Rescued
by clairlz
Summary: Josef has a bad feeling that Mick and Beth are in trouble and he may be right.
1. Chapter 1

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

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She sits on the floor in the corner of the dark apartment not knowing what to do. She is too scared to move. She doesn't know how long she been there. Moonlight spills in from the far windows but even with that she can't see much, just shapes in the darkness. Thankfully none of them are moving…yet. She barely hears the knocking on the door above the loud music. She doesn't move, doesn't make a sound. She just sits staring into the darkness, watching, waiting.

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Josef looks out the window of the plane at the stars twinkling in the dark. He finished up his business in New York two days earlier than expected. He is headed back to LA. He would like to have spent the rest of the week with Sarah in New York but he has a bad feeling. He long ago learned to pay attention to his gut feelings, and right now he knows something is wrong. He started calling Mick four days ago. After two days, he started calling Beth. Nobody is picking up. At first, he hopes the two of them are shacked up somewhere out of cell range. Unfortunately, to his knowledge, they haven't taken that last step and he starts to worry that something has happened to one or both of them. He has a contact at Buzzwire and no one had seen Beth because she has taken a month off to deal with Josh's death.

Tonight he finally sends one of his security guys by Mick's apartment. Charlie reports that Mick's car is there with Beth's right next to it. Charlie goes up and knocks on the door and no one answers. He tries to sense if anyone is inside. He detects with his vampire senses there's a human, but something isn't right about the heartbeat and pulse. He doesn't sense any vampires around at all. He does smell blood. Josef tells him to wait there and he will check it out as soon as he lands. Josef calls and has his limo sent away and has one of his Porsches waiting for him. He decides he better have damage control on hand, he calls The Cleaner.

"Victoria, I need you to go to St. John's place. No, I don't know what is going on. I'm in the air, just about to touch down at LAX. I've got one of my guys there and he smells a human, probably Beth, Mick's human, and blood. I want you on hand just in case. Wait for me, I'll get you in. I don't want anyone approaching Beth if I'm not there. I shouldn't be long."

He hopes like hell that Mick and Beth are off swapping body fluids in some remote cabin.

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From where she's sitting she can see the door as it opens, light spills in but not enough in the right places for her to see who it is. In this light all she can see is a vague outline of a man. She just knows it's not Mick…. not Mick Her heart starts to pound. _Can I kill another one?_ She picks up the stake in one hand and the gun in the other.

Josef cautiously walks through the door. The lights are all off, but the stereo is on full blast. He can smell Beth in the room. Through the dim moonlight, he spots her in the corner on the floor. He needs to get that damn stereo turned off. He can sense her fear. If she sees him maybe she will know that she is safe. He flips a couple of light switches and nothing happens. _Damn._

He goes back out into the hallway to get away from the noise of the stereo. "Victoria, can one of your guys get the lights up and get that damn stereo turned off? Also have them search for Mick, while I see to Beth."

Victoria snaps her fingers at a couple of her people and off they go.

She sees more of them slip into the room. They don't think she can see them, but she can. She knows by the way they move they are vampires. Too fast….too smooth….too graceful….too dangerous…

Josef can smell vampire and human blood and it's a day or so old. Not good.

Josef wishes they would hurry up and get the lights on so Beth could see him more clearly. He doesn't want to approach her in the state she is in. Even with the stereo blasting, he can hear the throbbing of her heart. Her heartbeat is erratic and her breathing sounds like she is going to hyperventilate.

Josef tries to watch her closely. He can see something in her hands, but not what it is. He suspects it is a stake. He hopes a stake is all it is. He would not be the first vampire she has staked. Then he sees something in the other hand. Josef dives for cover just before the gun goes off. He hopes Victoria and her people are clear. The gun goes flying at him. That must have been her last shot.

Someone finally gets the stereo turned off. He wonders how long she's been trapped in the dark with that noise. Josef crouches down and approaches her carefully. "Beth?" No answer. "Beth? Come on, it's Josef." He is inching closer to her, ready in case she doesn't recognize him. Closer…closer. "Beth, come on. Look at me. It's Josef." He is getting very close to her. He can sense that she is about to spring. Every muscle in her body is tight. Her heartbeat is pounding. He tries one more time. He is afraid he could inadvertently hurt her if he has to defend himself. "Beth? It's Josef. Can you look at me?"

Josef hears a pop and the lights come on. Beth's hand is in the air with a stake pointed at his chest. When she sees him she drops the stake. "Josef?" He nods and holds out his arms to her. She lunges into his arms. He goes from a crouch to a sitting position on the floor with a thump, the little blond weeping in his arms. "I'm sorry…. I'm sorry," she repeats over and over. He tries to hold her out from him to assess the damage done to her, but every time he tries to move her she digs herself into him even tighter. He puts his arm under her bottom and uses his vampire strength to stand up with Beth clinging to him.

"Everybody ok?" Victoria nods and Josef continues. "Do you have anything we can give her to calm her down or better yet, knock her out?"

"Of course." Victoria goes over to one of the black bags on the floor that they brought with them and opens it up. She turns her back so Beth can't see what she's doing and she fills the syringe. She might as well not bother since Beth has her head buried in Josef's shoulder. Victoria uses her speed to quickly move to Beth and put the needle in her arm.

"Just hold on to her for a minute or so, and she'll be out." Soon, Josef can feel Beth relax against him and her breathing even out. He goes over to the couch and gently lays her down. He can see that she has blood smeared across her neck and into her hair. Cleaning her up will have to wait. He looks closely, and there are two sets of fang marks on her neck. He leans over and smells her to see if he can identify the vampires involved. It is all too much of a jumble, too many different scents to make an identification. He can smell Mick, but that is always there and not strong enough to say that Mick is the one that left either of the bite marks. If it wasn't Mick, it certainly could explain her fear. Beth might finally understand that the Mick-type vampire is far and few between. Josef doesn't sense that there is anything physically wrong with Beth, so he covers her with a blanket.

One of Victoria's crew yells. "I've got an unknown dead vamp in the kitchen." They enter the kitchen and find a youngish looking, which doesn't say much, vamp dead on the floor. He's got a stake in his chest and a bullet hole right between the eyes. Josef smells him. The decay isn't strong. He thinks maybe 60 years old. Josef survey's the kitchen. Besides the vamp's blood, there is blood spattered across the kitchen but that seems to be some of Mick's retail blood. Victoria picks a couple of the empty bags. "So, hopefully none of this blood came out of St. John or the human."

Josef nods his agreement.

One of Victoria's people comes running down the stairs. "Boss, there is no one upstairs. I searched all the rooms and didn't find any bodies. No one's in Mr. St. John's freezer."

Josef starts to pace, even in the small kitchen area. "Victoria put this place back together. I doubt we're going to find out what happened until I can get a coherent answer out of Beth. See if you can ID the dead punk. Send me the bill, but get this place back in shape. I'll take her with me. How long will the drugs last? I don't want her waking up and freaking out in the car."

"If I give her another dose now she'll be down for a couple hours. Depends on how hard she's fighting the drugs."

Josef nods. "Then do it. That will give me enough time to make arrangements to keep her safe, and have someone look at her and make sure she's ok."

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Josef picks up Beth and cradles her in his arms. "Hey, I found this. Must be hers." Victoria hands Josef Beth's overstuffed bag. "She'll feel better when she wakes up and has this available."

Josef wonders what it is with women, human or vamp, and purses. Then he remembers her laptop. "You didn't see a laptop lying around here did you? She sometimes has it with her."

A voice comes from the kitchen, "Boss, there was a smashed one in the office."

Josef turns with Beth in his arms "Have him get it, and put it in a bag or something and run it down. It might be another clue, if she doesn't have any answers."

Victoria nods and Josef carries Beth to the car. He walks to the elevator and wonders what could possibly have frightened her so badly that she had to be sedated. She's such a fighter that he's worried that whatever it is could be more than Mick can handle. What would be so bad that it would cause Mick to abandon her like that? She silently stirs in his arms. He belts her into the Porsche and heads for home. He thinks he better find out who is at the house and have Robert prepare for Beth. It's not often he has a human in the house who is off limits to everyone. This one will always belong to Mick, no matter if the worst has happened or not.

Josef gets Robert on the phone. "Mick and Beth are in trouble. I can't find Mick anywhere, and Beth has been attacked. I've had her sedated and I'm bringing her home. Is there anyone on the grounds that might be a problem? Anyone who has trouble with boundaries? I'd hate to have to kill someone for not having enough sense to stay the hell away from a human that doesn't even belong to me."

"Just Denton. He might be a problem, no one else that I can think of. You know Mick and Denton hate each other. If you turn your back on him he would mess with her just to spite Mick, other than that, no one. There aren't a lot of visitors here this time of year. It's to hot in California for most of our friends."

"Find an expensive vamp-friendly hotel and put Denton up there. Tell him I'll pay for everything. He told me he has to leave town in a week, anyway. Robert, just get him out of there. I'm on my way and I don't want to have to deal with him for long or at all." Denton was a thug that Josef tolerated for the little amount of time he was usually in California because he had been useful in the past. Sometimes there are things that need to be done that Mick would object to. Denton was good for those things, but not much else. "Next, I want you to call Dr. Stanton and tell him I have a human that I need him to look at. Tell him I'm not sure what she was subjected to. Maybe he should bring a female nurse with him. I don't think she's been assaulted beyond the bite marks, but she may not react well to an unfamiliar male, especially an unfamiliar male vampire." Josef can picture Robert making notes. "Now I think it's best if we put her in the master bedroom. I don't want her alone and so far she's reacting to me fairly well. Got it?"

"I'll take care of it," Robert says and hangs up.

Robert sits in the study for a minute staring at the phone. He has worked for Josef a long time, and this little human is the closest he'd come to a human friend in 50 years…not since Sarah. Not that Josef has the same intent on this one, but he knows Josef well enough to know that there will be blood spilled for what had happened to her, never mind if St. John has been killed. Neither of them would admit it, but the two have become like brothers. They don't always see eye to eye or understand each other, but Josef and Mick are close.

Robert dials Dr. Stanton and tells him the situation. Stanton knows Josef well enough to drop everything when Josef calls. He will be there soon. Robert thinks about his choice of hotels for Denton. He determines the Sanguine would suit Denton's particular needs. He makes the reservations, and then goes to inform Mr. Denton that he is to leave at once.

Robert finds Denton by the pool snacking on one of Josef's girls. Emily does not look pleased, but she would never insult one of Josef's guests. She will be glad when he is gone. He has the touch of someone who likes to know they are causing pain. He doesn't let on that he is doing it on purpose, but Emily knows; she's no fool. She's been around a lot of vampires, and she can tell what emotions in the blood they are reaching for. With Josef, it's all about the pleasure. Josef gets off on his food tasting of endorphins. Josef wants the girls to feel as good as he does. Denton just gets off on his blood tasting of pain. Emily hated to think what would happen had he not been bound by Josef's protection of his girls.

Robert taps Denton on the shoulder. He lets go of Emily and snarls at him. Robert stands with his arm folded waiting for Denton to speak. "What do you want?"

"Josef has just called. He wants you to move to a hotel. I've made reservations for you at Sanguine. They are holding one of their suites for you. Josef will, of course, pay for this inconvenience." Denton looks at Robert speculatively. What would Josef have going on that would be so important that he would pay for Denton to stay at the Sanguine? Better question is, what is it that Josef doesn't want Denton to see? Impatiently, Robert tells Denton, "There will be a limo here for you in ten minutes. Be ready." Robert has no use for Denton, and has never made any bones about it. He hates him almost as much as Mick does. Denton narrows his eyes at Robert and tries to stare him down. Robert laughs and just stands there staring right back. Robert is twice his age; he's worked for Josef for a couple of hundred years and nothing Denton could come up with would intimidate Robert or surprise him. "Go get your stuff and be ready. You don't want to be here when Josef gets back." Robert turns on his heels and walks away. Denton shrugs and tries to figure out who will tell him what is going on after he's left? It can't be one of the household staff or girls; they are all completely loyal to Josef. He will have to think about that. Denton gets up and heads for his room to pack

Josef drives through the night wondering just what could possibly have happened. He thinks he smelled at least three other vampires at Mick's and none of them familiar.

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Josef pulls up to the house and Robert immediately opens the door. Josef picks Beth up out of the car and carries her inside. On his way to the stairs, he sees that Dr. Stanton and his nurse are there already. _Good._ They follow Josef upstairs. He gently deposits Beth on the bed. She's still asleep.

"The doctor starts to examine Beth and turns to Josef. "What was given to her to knock her out and how much?"

"No idea, but I can find out." Josef calls Victoria. "Tell the doctor what you gave Beth" and he hands the phone to Stanton. He listens for a bit, nodding, and then hands Josef back his phone. "Ok, she should be out for another half hour at least. I can do a cursory check until she wakes up."

Josef nods. "From what I've observed over the time I've known her, she's not one to go into hysterics easily. I'm really worried that something was done to her that was…intolerable." It's the only word that Josef can think to use. "She recently suffered a loss and I'm not sure she was back from that, before this… whatever this is…. happened."

"If we find that there is evidence that she's been sexually assaulted or anything else, unless it's an emergency, we will take care of it when she wakes up."

Josef frowns, "Wouldn't it be better to do that kind of stuff while she's still out?"

"No, not at all. You don't deal with females on this level much do you?"

Josef smiles warily. "I suppose not."

The doctor patiently explains to Josef, "Doing that while she's out, without her permission, would be like a second assault. If that's what's happened to her."

Josef nods. "Ok, I guess I just didn't want her to have to think about it."

Dr. Stanton looks up at Josef. "I've known you a long time and I've never known you to be this close to a human female." He holds up his hand to stop Josef. "It's your business, but if we are going to check her out I need to know what her recent activity is likely to have been as far as vampires and humans are concerned."

Josef shakes his head. "She's not mine. She's involved with a good friend. I don't believe that they are uh… intimate on any level, no biting or anything else. The loss she suffered recently was a human boyfriend who died a couple weeks ago. My guess, she hasn't been with anyone since then. I'm pretty positive those marks on her neck and any blood loss are the work of her attackers."

The doctor nods and he and the nurse begin the assessment.

Josef goes over and stands at the window and looks out at the night sky. He wants to be close if she wakes, but doesn't want to intrude on the doctor's work.

The doctor and the nurse finish their examination. Other than the wounds on her neck, Beth has no other injuries and wasn't sexually assaulted. Although Josef thinks that she may not see it that way. Being bitten by a vampire without permission to Beth may seem as bad as a sexual assault, since Mick has taught her that he places such a high value on doing such a thing. He shrugs. He just doesn't have any idea.

The doctor doesn't seem to think the wound even needs dressing. Stanton also says that she has been through so much that the drugging was probably a very good thing. He says she seems to be close to exhaustion and she may not wake when the drug wears off, and not to be alarmed if she keeps right on sleeping. Her body needs rest to heal. He instructs Josef to have some food on hand when she wakes. If she's this tired, hopefully the first thing she will want to do after getting cleaned up is to eat. Josef thanks them and they leave.

Josef plants a comfortable over stuffed chair next to the bed where she's resting, so he will be the first thing she sees when she wakes up. It's getting to be morning and he would like to get some sleep before that happens.

Josef gently covers her with a couple of blankets on the bed, sits down in the chair and tries to sleep. Instead, he sits and watches Beth sleep. Josef smiles to himself. One of these days she's going to be turned, whether Mick does it or he does. He's sure that she will be ready in a couple years. Mick is fooling himself if he thinks it's going to be any other way. After she passes that awkward fledgling stage she's going to be a whole lot of fun, Josef is sure of that. If Mick messes up, he better watch out. At that point, Josef thinks he could be persuaded very easily to spend some time with her. He drifts off to sleep with a smile on his face and visions of vampire Beth in his head.

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**Love to hear from readers if they like it or not. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for another great Beta.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

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Josef sleeps lightly and wakes a couple of times during the day. Each time he checks on Beth. She seems fine so he goes back to sleep. When twilight rolls around he calls Robert. "Please sit with her until I get back. I need to catch a quick shower and eat. I won't be long. At least she knows you. If she wakes up and starts having trouble, come get me."

Josef grabs some clothes and heads for the shower off the master bedroom. He gets out of the shower and is just getting his pants on he hears a scream from the next room. He zips into the room. Robert is standing back from the bed looking worried. Beth is curled up in the bed crying in her sleep. Josef goes back into the bathroom grabs his shirt and quickly puts it on as he heads back to check on Beth. He watches her for a minute to make sure she's still asleep. _She's having a nightmare_.

Josef turns to Robert. "Go get me a bottle and a glass. I'm going to see if I can wake her. She's not going to get any rest if she is in that state while she sleeps. I might as well wake her. She needs to get a shower and eat. If she's up to it I'd like to find out what the hell happened, in case Mick's in trouble, then she can go back to sleep."

Robert leaves and Josef sits on the edge of the bed next to Beth. He gently pulls her into his lap. "Hey, Beth…come on it's time to wake up," he whispers in her ear. He wants her to wake up, but he doesn't want to scare her. "Hey, it's Josef. Come on wake up. You're having a nightmare."

He's looking down at her and her eyes blink open and he can see she's trying to focus on him. He reaches over and turns the bedside lamp down a notch. "Josef?"

"Yes, I'm here. It's ok. Nobody is going to hurt you. You're safe here with me." She puts her arms around his neck and holds on for dear life. Gently he takes her arms from around his neck and leans her back away from him. She looks down and won't look at him. "Beth?"

"I'm sorry I almost shot you. I'm so sorry." She's still looking down and now he can feel tears dropping on his arm. He feels her shaking. He lets her put her arms back around his neck and he moves to lean back against the headboard. He finds himself rubbing her back and murmuring to her. Sometime he's going to have to figure out how these feelings for her have happened. It's nothing like with Sarah, but to Josef's amazement he is sure that whoever did to her will end up dead. He feels so protective of her. He smiles ruefully; he sees why Mick is so captivated.

As Robert walks in he clears his throat and smiles at Josef. Josef looks over at him and scowls back at him. Robert sets the bottle and glass on the dresser. Josef knows he needs to eat. He has a lot of control, but there is no use making things worse by tempting fate and not eating, especially if he has to deal with this small blond blood bank. He motions for Robert to pour him a glass and put it on the bedside table. Then he pulls the blanket up over Beth's back and the two of them sit that way for quite some time. Josef sips his glass of blood and rubs Beth's back. He's not sure if she's fallen back to sleep, and he hates to disturb her. He feels her take a long shuddering breath, and she moves away from him so she can see his face. "Josef, how did you find me?"

He smiles at her, "Let's not talk about that now. I want you to go right through that door and take a shower." Her eyes dart around a little wildly. "Listen you can leave the door open and I'll stay here " He smiles at her, "and I won't even peek." She smiles weakly at him and nods. "Is my bag here somewhere?" He nods and hands it to her. "At least I'll have clean underwear."

"I'll get you some clean clothes. Also I want you to eat. What sounds good?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think I could eat."

"I'll have my chef make you something. You don't have to eat it if you don't want, but it will be there for you. How's that?"

She nods at him and gets off him and goes into the bathroom. He can hear her trying not to cry. Josef calls down to Robert, "Get chef to make something for Beth to eat. Tell him something that can sit for awhile incase she's not ready to eat." Then Josef goes to his closet and pulls out a t-shirt and a pair of his sweat pants for her to put on. He quietly goes in the bathroom and sets them on the side of the vanity for her to find.

Soon she comes out of the bathroom. He can see unshed tears in her eyes, but a half smile on her lips. "Josef, you're too tall." She says this in mock frustration as she tries to walk in his sweats.

Josef crosses to her and picks her up and gently puts her on the bed. He rolls up the pant legs of the sweats. Looking down at his handy work he says, "That should help. Are you hungry? Chef made you a roast beef sandwich."

Beth looks over at the small table and chair over next to the wall and sees the food. She doesn't really feel like eating but it seems important to Josef so she goes over and sits down. "I'll try." She takes a bite of the sandwich and smiles. "This is so good." All of a sudden she's starving. "Do you have any thing to drink?" He smiles. This is the calmest she's been since he found her. "We keep a pretty wide variety around here. Tell me what you want and I'll go get it for you." She frowns at him. "Or, I can have someone get it for you."

She nods. "Sorry."

"Don't worry. It's fine. Now tell me what you want." Josef has Robert get her the requested item. Josef sits on the bed still leaning against the headboard, trying not to let his impatience show. He doesn't want her to crumble again, so he has to proceed slowly to find out where Mick is and what happened to him. Once she finishes, he pats the bed in front of him. "Come here. I need to talk to you." She looks down at the floor and walks over and sits down in front of him. "Beth? I need to know where Mick is. Is he ok? What happened to Mick?"

Beth looks up at him in confusion. "Mick wasn't home. He's out of town on a case."

"But he's not answering his cell phone. Are you sure he's out of town?"

She nods. "He called me a couple days ago…" She starts to frown not knowing what day it is. "last Tuesday and left me a message. He said he was still gone, but that he had broken his cell phone in a fight with some guy he was chasing and he would try and check in now and then."

Josef takes a deep breath. Anger starts to well up in him. Mick wasn't even there to protect her. _The stupid son of a bitch spends twenty-two years trying to protect her and when she really needs him he's out of town_. Josef takes a deep breath and tries to calm his anger. "Can you start at the beginning and tell me what happened? I really need to know."

She's looking down again. "When Josh died I was terrible to Mick treated him really awfully. I was mad at myself, and feeling guilty so I took it out on Mick. I tried to hurt him as much as I hurt, and he just took it." She's shaking her head. "I needed some time to sort out my anger and regret." She looks up at Josef shyly. "You know I love Mick?"

Josef smiles at her softly. "Yes, I know."

"Well, I didn't talk to Mick for a week. It was terrible, but I was trying to punish both of us for hurting Josh when he was alive. Mick left a couple messages telling me when I was ready he would be there for me. Then he called and said that he was leaving town on a case, but if I needed him for any reason to call his cell phone. A couple days after that he called and said his cell was busted, but he should be home soon."

Josef holds up his hand. He picks up the phone and calls Ryder. "Ryder run Mick's credit cards and find out where the hell he is."

Josef looks back at Beth, "Ok, keep going."

"By then I had run through all my guilt and pain and I was ready to see him, so I went over to his apartment. He gave me a key some time ago. I thought I would surprise him and be there when he got back." _Maybe wearing one of his shirts_. She smiles at the thought. Josef watches her closely as her face darkens. "When I got out of my car there were these… these."

Josef is sure he knows what's coming next. "Yes?"

"Well, I thought they were men, but they were vampires in the garage. They were faster, stronger, I couldn't fight them. I ran for the elevator and pushed the button…but I…wasn't fast enough. They got in with me and….." she trails off

He could figure out the rest. They had just ridden the elevator up to Mick's, taken the key from her and they were in.

"Did they say anything?" Josef wants to see if they were waiting for Beth, or it was all just random.

He notices her eyes look a little dazed. "Said they wondered if I was tasty. Said I looked tasty…. they wanted to party…turned the stereo up high…smelled vampire in Mick's apartment." Her heart is pounding. Josef runs his hands up and down her arms trying to keep her calm.

"They wondered why he wasn't snacking off me already. Thought he must be saving me for a special occasion…hoped he didn't mind sharing ahead of time. Two of them bit me." Josef watches her hand flutter up to her neck. She sounds like she's going to cry again.

"Said they wouldn't drain me, since someone must be at least a little interested. One of them wanted to…. wanted to…. do more…. I told them they were dead. I had managed to get to where Mick keeps his gun. The third one tried to bite me, but he got a bullet and a stake for his trouble." He doesn't want her to relive this, but she has to get some of it out in the open.

"That made them mad…said they were going to kill me. I told them that one dead was just the beginning…. they were all as good as dead. They started stalking me around the room like tigers. Said I couldn't get them both…. told them it didn't matter that my friends, Mick and Josef would finish them off. Wish I'd thought of that earlier. That stopped them cold." Josef thinks sourly,_ At least Mick and I being well known in the community has at least one perk._

"One of them asked me who lived there, I told them. Now they were the ones that were freaked out. They ran out. I was afraid they would come back. I waited for Mick. Josef…. I was scared. I wouldn't have shot at you if I had known it was you."

"I know. Don't worry about it." Josef is trying hard to not let her feel how angry he is, angry with the thugs, and angry with Mick.

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Mick looks around the hotel room and he can't wait to get home. He hasn't seen Beth since Josh's funeral. He left her a couple messages at first telling her that she could call him anytime if she wants to talk. He doesn't want to push her, but he wants her to know as always, he is there for her.

It kills him to not run to her and try and cheer her up, but he knows that's not what she needs right now. He's lost enough people in his life to know that sometimes you just need to get through the pain as best you can. He also knows that it's why she lashed out at him when he did try to see her.

He hopes she hasn't called in the last few days. He's been chasing a bail jumper and in the process he accidentally crushed his cell phone. He's so close to catching this guy that he hasn't had time to even check his messages. He normally doesn't do these kinds of cases, but his client is the ex-wife of the guy he's chasing and she was beaten severely before he was caught the last time. She's afraid he will come back and finish the job on her and the kids if he's out running around free. Mick doesn't want to take the chance of him getting away. Unfortunately, he's been one step behind the man since he left LA. Tonight he finally got a lucky tip from a cabby who Mick had spread some cash to and the man is safely locked up in the Las Vegas city jail waiting to be transported back to LA.

Mick has been staying at vamp friendly hotel. Not to hard to do in Vegas, they cater to everyone. He decides to get some sleep; it's been a fast and furious few days and then head home in a few hours. It's only a two-hour drive so he can still get in before morning.

Robert enters the room "Ryder's on the phone."

Josef picks up. "Where the hell is he?"

"Vegas. He's staying off the strip at Elwood's place. I called and he hasn't checked out yet. You want me to call and leave a message telling him to call you?"

"No, call and ask for Elwood, give him my name. Tell him to find Mick, wake him up or whatever, but do it now and tell him I want Mick to call me, immediately."

"No problem. I'll take care of it." Ryder hangs up.

Josef looks down at Beth. He notices her eyes are starting to get heavy again. "I think you should go back to sleep. You've had a rough couple of days. If you wake up and I'm not here, Robert will be here. You know Robert right?" She nods. "Is that ok?" she bites her lip, but nods. "How about this. If you wake up and Robert is here instead of me you can ask for me and I'll come right away. Would that be ok?"

Beth nods. Josef moves out of the way, and holds the covers up so she can climb under them and get some more sleep. She climbs in and it doesn't take long and she's asleep. Josef watches her. He forgets how animated humans are, even in sleep. Not like a vampire, who's dead to the world._Hopefully no more bad dreams_.

Robert slips into the room. "Mick is on the line."

"She's just gotten back to sleep. I told her that you might be here if she wakes up, but that you would have someone come get me right away if she wants. Don't leave her alone under any circumstances."

Robert nods and Josef goes to his office to talk to Mick.

He's dreading this conversation and decides to make it one sided, just giving Mick the most important information. "Where the hell have you been? Never mind; just listen I don't know where the hell you've been, but get your ass back to my place as soon as you can. Beth has been attacked. I found her at your place. I've had a doctor and a nurse check her out. She doesn't appear to have any lasting damage, but just the same get back here."

The line is silent. "Mick?"

Mick feels a weight pressing against his chest. "Josef, I want to talk to her. If she's ok, then let me talk to her."

Josef wants to end this conversation. "You can't. I've finally gotten her to eat and she's gone back to sleep. Look the best thing would be if you got back here. I'm sure it would help her a lot if she could see you."

Mick realizes that Josef isn't going to relent. "I'm two hours away. I'll be there as soon as I can." Mick hangs up.

Mick takes a deep breath and decides he just needs to keep it together until he gets ahold of who ever did this to her and then he can let the anger loose. Until then, he needs to do what he has to in order to see Beth for himself. Mick had rented a car to come to Vegas. He returns to the rental agency and asks about an upgrade. This time he rents a black Ferrari and decides to see just how much time he can clip off those 2 hours without racking it up in the desert. That would not be good. Despite his guilt and rage he needs to get back to Beth.

Mick is driving the Ferrari as fast as he dares. He has to concentrate on the road. He keeps finding himself slipping off into despair one moment and rage the next, at the thought of what happened to Beth. He hates it when his emotions threaten to overtake him. He pictures Beth when she sleeps; she's so beautiful. It calms the emotions running through him. He hopes she's sleeping that peacefully now. He's so glad that Josef is taking care of her. Josef won't let anything else happen to her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Denton waits until the limo is almost at its destination and taps the glass between himself and the driver. The window slides down. "I need you to go back to Josef's. I've forgotten one of my bags."

The driver shakes his head. "I have strict instructions to bring you to the hotel. It's bad enough you've had me driving all over the place while you_think_."

Denton sighs, "You might as well do it because if you don't I will just take a cab back and charge it to Josef. I need that bag. It will be much faster if you just turn around and take me back."

The driver knows this is not good, but doesn't know what else to do. "Fine, sir." And against his better judgment he takes the man back to where he picked him up.

_Now maybe I'll get to see what Josef was trying to hide from me._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **

**Love to hear from readers if they like it or not... **


	3. Chapter 3

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **

Josef takes a few minutes to call in one of his girls to have some lunch while Beth sleeps. He reflects on his changing relationship with Beth. It's gone from indifference to skepticism to fondness and, after New York, to extended family and all that implies. When she gave him Sarah's diary, he knows she did it because she knew how much it would mean to him. It was a piece of the past that he could relive through Sarah's eyes. It was the kindest thing anyone had done for him in a long time.

He finishes his lunch and tries to decide what he is going to do about Mick. He knows there is no way Mick could have known this was going to happen. But because of Mick's inability to come to terms with the fact that he's a vampire, he's put Beth in danger, whether he wants to admit it or not. That has to stop.

Josef goes in to check on Beth and finds Robert reading the paper and Beth still asleep. Josef hears Mick's car before it stops. Josef goes to the front door to meet him.

Mick bolts from the car. "Where is she? I want to see her."

"Mick, no. She's sleeping. I want to talk to you before you see her anyway."

Mick tries to push his way past Josef. "I want to see her now. I won't wake her up."

Josef was afraid of this. He slams Mick against the side of the house. "I said NO. Not yet. You will listen to me and you will do as I say, or so help me I will kick your sorry ass from one end of this property to the next."

Mick snarls at Josef, letting some of his rage out at being kept from Beth. Mick tries again to make Josef let him go, and finds himself being held up off the ground by his throat. Through gritted teeth Josef tells Mick, "That is ENOUGH! I don't want to hurt you, but I will."

Mick struggles under the older vampires grasp and finally gets the message. "Alright!" Josef lowers him to the ground and he jerks away from Josef. "Just what is so damn important that I can't see her first? Shit Josef, you're killing me here. I need to see her." Mick is rubbing his throat.

"Mick, listen to me. What's so important is this, first off she was bitten, not once but twice on the neck, by two different vampires. She doesn't seem to be having to hard a time with it, but if you make a big deal out of it you're going to make her feel worse about it. I will not have you make her feel like she did something wrong."

"I wouldn't…I don't care that she was bitten, just that she is ok. That's all that matters."

"Well, I had no way of knowing that is how you'd feel, because you act like biting her would be the end of the world. Since you're the one that she's been around the most your attitudes are what count. I will not have her feeling worse because you have issues."

Mick shakes his head "Of course, Josef. Fine. She was attacked by vampires?"

"Yes, and she managed to kill one." Mick notices Josef says this was a note of pride. "Hell of a girl you have there. But damn it Mick, part of this is your fault. They didn't take much; they just tasted her. Beth heard them say that they assumed someone was keeping her for a special occasion, but since she wasn't marked in anyway they didn't figure anyone would mind sharing a little. They figured she was free for the tasting."

Josef continues. He knows this isn't going to go over well, but it has to be said all of it. "This is the end of this thing with you and Beth, as it's been. I'm putting my foot down now. You either take her as your own and treat her as such, so she's safe from our kind, or I will."

Mick protests, "Josef, you can't."

Josef smiles at him coldly. "Mick, you know me better than that." Josef flashes his fangs at Mick. "I can and I will. What I won't do is allow her to be treated like some little whore no one cares about; because you don't have the guts to make it known that she belongs to you."

Mick looks shocked at Josef's words. "You know that's not how it is." Mick's voice comes out sounding raw. "Josef, I love her."

Josef nods. "Then act like it. I know you don't think of humans in terms of property, but it's time you got with the program buddy. Because guess what? The rest of the tribe does. As long as you leave her out there on her own, shit like this is going to happen. Well, no more. I told you after New York what I thought you should do. My opinion hasn't changed. You should stop hating what you are, turn her and live happily ever after. I've seen few humans that I thought would make as good a vampire as I think Beth would."

Mick shakes his head. "She had Josh before. I couldn't make her mine."

Josef explodes. "Bullshit. She's been in love with you as long as I've known her and you know it. You and your self-loathing made it impossible to acknowledge what you both wanted. The truth is, all you ever had to do was ask and she would have dumped Lindsey in a heartbeat. She only hung on because you were always sending her so damn many mixed messages. You wanted her, but you didn't want her. It was too dangerous, but you never left. No more of this crap."

Mick is looking down at the ground. All the fight seems to have left him. "I'll stay away. I won't see her anymore."

Josef is getting exasperated. "You are such a stupid son of a bitch. You know what she was doing in your apartment? She came to surprise you to tell you that she wanted to be with you, that she loves you. She finally got her head together after Lindsey was killed and those thugs caught her in the garage at your place and she ran into the elevator and they followed her up to your apartment."

Josef continues. He knows this is painful for Mick to hear, but he needs to know what happened to her. "They were going to rape her, but she had the presence of mind to shoot one, between the eyes and stake him. You keep silver bullets in your gun?" Josef doesn't need an answer, it's that in combination with the stake that can be the only reason she was able to kill the vampire. "Then she threatened them with our names and they asked who lived in the apartment. When she told them, they ran. I'm sure it's not going to be difficult to find them, but I want it done. They need to know that not every random blond is fair game, especially one that smells of someone else."

Mick's goes full vamp. "You don't have to worry about that. I'll find them."

Josef nods, and Mick returns to his human form.

Josef thinks this will be the hardest part. "Now, just what the hell are you going to do about her? I want to know before you see her. I rescued her, so as far as I'm concerned, she stays my responsibility until I can find someone worth a damn to take over."

Mick won't look at Josef. "I don't know."

Josef turns and heads for the house. "Then get the hell out of here. I'll break the news to her somehow, and then I'll be responsible for her. You know, you're right about one thing that I wouldn't have agreed with until today. You don't deserve her, and you don't deserve to be happy because you don't really want to be. You like wallowing in self-pity. God, living an eternal pity party, how boring. Go. Get the hell out of here before she wakes up."

Continuing, he says over his shoulder, "After today I don't want you ever to see her again. I'll take care of her from here on out. I'll make sure no one hurts her and then when she's ready, I'll turn her. I already feel protective of her. It won't be too big a leap to be her sire."

Mick grabs his arm, and spins him around. "No."

"Why not? You don't care enough to do the right thing. Someone has to. You brought her into our world and thought you could keep her straddling the fence, but it doesn't work that way for humans. It's too dangerous. It's bad enough you do it, but at least you can take care of yourself. Think about this for just a second. If those animals that attacked her had wanted to turn her or just plain kill her, there wasn't one damn thing that she could have done to stop them. You weren't there. I wasn't there. If someone's going to turn her it might as well be me. Mick, get out of here. You don't have the guts to live the life you're dealt."

Once again Josef turns to the house. He had really hoped he could reason with Mick. He knows how much Beth loves him and, in fact, how much Mick loves her. Josef thought that if it came down to a choice that Mick would make the right one, but it looks like he was wrong. Josef feels something breeze past him. He stops, and Mick is in front of him.

Mick looks him in the eye. "You win…."

Josef puts up his hand. "It's not about winning. It's about you learning to live with what you are. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself how on Earth Beth could love a monster? She loves you; she doesn't think you're a monster. For some reason she thinks you're worth loving."

Mick squeezes his eyes shut. "Josef, I can't live without her. I say I'll leave and never see her again, but I know I could never do it. I would spend the rest of her life just out of reach, and that would kill us both because deep inside she would know I was there." Josef hears a bitter laugh out of Mick. "I spent twenty-two years watching over her and the one time she really needed me, I'm nowhere to be found."

Josef softens his tone. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You can't watch her twenty-four hours a day. The problem is, once you bring her into our world, if you love her, you have to bring her all the way in. There is no half way with this. Do you think you can learn to see yourself through her eyes? Do you think you can stop talking about cures, stop trying to be what you're not? I'm not saying you have to live feed, I'm not saying you have to change the way you live. I'm just saying you have to change how you feel about what you are."

Mick takes a deep breath. "Yes, Josef, I can do it, but when the time comes I still want you to do her turn."

"She may not agree….." Mick knows Josef is thinking of Sarah.

"No, she'll agree. Especially after what's happened." Mick smiles at Josef, "She likes you. The two of you are a lot alike. You both have a tendency to get to the point."

Josef smiles, "If that's what she wants…of course."

They walk together towards the house, "Josef, do you think I can leave her here for a couple more days? I don't want her alone, and I don't want her in the apartment until I make sure that The Cleaner didn't miss anything that might give her a jolt. I also need to see what I can find out about the animals who did this to her."

Josef shakes his head. "She's not going to like it."

"I think this one time I might be able to get her to do what I ask. We'll see." Mick thinks Josef is right, but he's got to try. "Josef, Can I see her now? I won't wake her."

Josef relaxes and smiles. He decides to give Mick one more shot. "Sure, she's up in my bed."

Mick arches an eyebrow at him, and Josef laughs. "Hey, it's the best bed in the house. You wouldn't want me to put her anywhere else, would you?"

Mick recognizes Josef being Josef. "You're incorrigible."

Mick quickly walks up the stairs to Josef's bedroom. He peeks in the door and sees Robert sitting in the chair reading the paper. Robert heard every word that passed between Mick and Josef downstairs. He's glad that Josef finally let push come to shove with Mick. Robert likes Mick, but thinks it's time he grew up and joined the real world. Robert stands but doesn't move. Josef told him to stay with Beth. Josef sticks his head in the door and motions for Robert to follow him.

Mick sits in the chair and watches Beth sleep. She looks so peaceful. She's so beautiful. He listens intently to her heartbeat to make sure she's really doing fine. Everything sounds good. The thought of her at the mercy of those animals and him not being there to defend her makes him want to hit something in frustration. Next time he leaves town, for anything, she goes with him. Josef's right; he's treated her badly. No more. She's his and he's hers, if she'll still have him.

Her eyes open and she sees him. "Mick!" He leans back in the chair and opens his arms. She jumps out of bed and crawls up on his lap and into his arms. He hugs her tightly. "I'm so sorry…so sorry…. I left you alone…. love you so much."

She leans back and smiles at him. "Did you say…. you love me?"

He looks at her tenderly. "Yes, I love you. If you want me…if you love me, I want you to be with me." He takes her face in his hands and gently brushes his lips against hers, once, twice and then deepens the kiss. She lets out a little moan. He breaks the kiss and leans back away from her. "Could you want to be with me after how badly I've treated you?"

Beth starts to protest. "You didn't…"

Mick stops her with a gentle kiss. "Yes, I did. I should have stopped making us both miserable and come to my senses sooner. If I had, this might not have happened to you. I just hope you still want to be with me."

She looks at him with some impatience. "Mick I'm fine. Don't be an idiot. This is no more your fault than if I'd crossed the street and gotten run over. I will not have you blaming yourself for this. I don't and you shouldn't."

Mick's makes a face, "but…."

"No buts. It's over. I don't blame you and you can't blame you." She gives him a soft smile. "And yes, I love you and want to be with you always. This is all I've ever wanted."

Slowly he nods at her and smiles. "I hear you got one of them."

"Yep. Third time was the charm. First two bit me, but I got the third one before he could. Problem was, I almost emptied the gun before I got him. I think I shot out several of the lights. I'm sorry; your place is probably a disaster."

He snorts at her. "It's fine. As long as you're ok, that's all that matters. You don't remember The Cleaner at the apartment with Josef?"

"No, but I was sort of out of it. Only thing I remember is almost shooting Josef." Mick arches an eyebrow at that. "Scared me to death when I realized it was him. Good thing I only had one bullet left in the gun. I could see a silhouette in the dark and just knew it wasn't you. I almost staked him, too. I hope I didn't hit The Cleaner."

"I don't think so. Josef would have said something. Anyway, I'm sure she has it all back to normal for the most part." _No wonder Josef is so sure she will make a good vampire. So much fight in her to survive._

Mick takes her hands in his. "I want you to do something for me, if you can. I need you to tell me everything you can about the two that got away."

Beth takes a deep breath and he can see her detaching herself, putting herself in reporter mode and she tells him everything she remembers about the pair. She remembers a remarkable amount.

When she's done he notices she's shaking and a little teary eyed. Not as detached as he'd hoped. He opens his arms again, and gratefully she hugs him tight.

He looks down at her and smiles. "You know, I'm not sure I like coming back and finding you in Josef's clothes."

She giggles. "Then you better not leave me for very long from now on."

He smiles at her. "Just one more time. I need you to stay at Josef's a couple more days and then I'll take you home."

"Mick, no…. I don't want to stay here. I want to go with you."

Mick closes his eyes. It's always so hard to say no to her, especially now. "Please. I need to do some things and I can't worry about you."

She looks down at her hands. "If you promise to get a new cell phone so I can talk to you and make sure you're alright. You're going after those guys who attacked me, aren't you?"

He nods. "I'll get a new phone as soon as I leave here." He takes her hands again. "You know I have to take care of this. Not only for you, but to make sure they don't hurt anyone else. I also have to do it because you threatened them with Josef. If there is no follow through it looks bad. Between what you told me and hopefully what The Cleaner has found out about the dead one, it shouldn't be to hard to track them down."

She looks at him quizzically. "Even though I'm human? The other…. vampires won't think this is curious that you would retaliate on my behalf and Josef would offer his protection?"

Mick lets out a small growl. "No, because pretty soon everyone will understand that you belong to me."

Beth scrunches her nose at him and he laughs. "I know, but as Josef pointed out to me, even if I don't look at it like that, the rest of the tribe does and that is what it's going to take to keep you safe."

"They won't be mad, that I killed one of their own?"

Mick snorts at her. "Hardly. Most everyone will know you acted within your rights to defend yourself and…" he smiles at her. "Most will secretly think it pretty damn gutsy for a hundred fifteen pound human to take on three vampires and manage to kill one. They will probably figure they had it coming for being inept, if nothing else. Failure isn't something vampires respect. Guts, that they respect. You should have heard the pride in Josef's voice when he told me you killed one. So, you'll stay with Josef until I can take care of this? It shouldn't take but a day or so."

"Mick, I have no clothes, I don't have my laptop…. I need my stuff."

"Not a problem. You make a list. I'll get what you need. The laptop is probably already here somewhere. Josef said it was smashed at the apartment, but he brought it along. He's going to have Ryder transfer the contents into a new one for you. Come on Beth, Please? I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't think it was really the best thing. I want you with me as much as you want to go, but there are too many unknowns in this for me to be sure I can keep you safe."

She makes a face at him but finally she nods. "Alright, but just this once."

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Ding ding ding :) As usual like to hear readers thoughts **


	4. Chapter 4

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **

Beth writes out a list of the things she needs. Mick sits with her until she drifts off to sleep. He stands to leave and hears her mumble, "Love you" in her half sleep. 

He smiles down at her. "I love you, too."

As Mick turns to start down the stairs, he hears a car pull up front and wonders who has shown up. He gets to the bottom of the stairs and sees Denton come through the front door. Mick blocks the stairs in full vamp form. There is no way in hell Denton gets past Mick without one of them ending up dead.

Josef and Robert both hear the car at the same time. Robert shrugs at Josef's questioning glance. Robert heads for the door to see who it is and all of a sudden smells Denton. Oh Shit is all he can think. He turns back to get Josef and sees Josef pass him on his way to the front door.

Josef enters the room to Mick standing at the bottom of the stairs in full-fang vampire mode. Josef thinks if Denton can't see that confronting Mick at this time is really a bad idea, he deserves what he gets. The two have a long-standing hatred for one another to start with, add in Mick's locked-in rage over what has happened to Beth, and Denton could be dead in a heartbeat. He's older than Mick, but he's no more than a thug and he is limited in his abilities. That gives Mick a big advantage, especially in his current state of mind.

Denton holds up his hands. "I forgot a case. I just came back to get it."

Josef thinks Denton must be smarter than he thought, except that in the next instant he tries to move past Mick.

Josef watches Denton go flying across the room, through the front window and land on Josef's Ferrari.

"Damn it, Mick. Be careful of the car. Never mind what you did to the window." Josef sighs, _that window is going to be a pain in the ass to have replaced_. It had to be made by special order the first time when the house was built.

Robert moves past Mick. "I'll go up and get this case he says he forgot."

Mick nods and Robert heads up the stairs.

Josef leans against the doorway watching the proceedings. He sure as hell isn't going to get between the two. Josef knows that Robert told Denton to go to the hotel, but he just had to sneak back to find out what was going on.

Denton stalks back into the house. Now he's showing fangs and the two of them are about to wreck his home with this throw down. Robert comes down the stairs with Denton's case in his hand. Robert moves past Mick and throws the case at Denton. "Here's the case you say you forgot." Robert spits the words at him.

Josef forgets how much Robert hates Denton also. Josef thinks that's the first time he's seen Robert like this in close to a hundred years.

Denton catches the case in mid air. He snarls at Mick. "I won't forget this." And he stalks out the door.

Quickly Josef moves to block the door to the limo. Denton can't open it without Josef moving. He looks at Josef. Josef gives him his deadliest smile. "Don't ever come back here. If I hear of you bothering Mick or anyone associated with him or me, I will make sure you regret it. Mick has his morals and all that, but he would not hesitate to kill you."

Josef moves out of the way and Denton opens the door and slams it behind him, but the car doesn't move. Josef looks to the other side of the car and sees the young driver standing a good ways back from the car. Josef doesn't have to be a vampire to see the young one is frightened enough, that having him drive Denton is out of the question. Josef sighs, _This gets more complicated by the minute_. _The only thing that could add to this mess is and oh wait, there it is, Beth is awake and looking for Mick_. Since the last thing Josef wants is for Denton to see Beth, he moves back into the house to tell Mick to see to her, but he sees Mick already running up the stairs to her.

Josef turns to Robert. "Who do we have that can drive Denton back to the hotel?"

Robert makes a sour face. "No one, but me. I'll do it, just to get rid of that trash. He won't dare try anything with me, and if he does I'll fix him but good. He thinks he could take me easily. It would be a pleasure to show him he is wrong."

Josef smiles. He says, "I'm sure the keys are in the ignition." as Robert walks out to the limo.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth wakes up to the sound of the crash downstairs. She's disoriented at first; afraid she is back in Mick's apartment being hurt. When she realizes she's at Josef,'s it all comes back to her. She remembers Mick being here and worries that the crash has something to do with him. She gets out of bed and heads for the door only to have him slip in and take her in his arms. She leans back and looks at him. She can see he's upset about something. "Are you ok? What was that noise?"

He smiles at her rather triumphantly she thinks and tells her. "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about, just taking out the trash."

Beth hears a car drive away and wonders just what kind of car the trash drives. "Mick, what aren't you telling me?"

"It's not a big deal. There was someone here that didn't belong, and I took care of it, although probably not the way Josef would have liked since he now needs a new front window and he has a dent in the Ferrari." He says the last bit a little sheepishly.

Beth shakes her head. "Are you sure? I know you, not many things would evoke that kind of response. If there is a threat to me, I need to know what it is."

"It's fine. I'm just sorry I woke you. Go get back in bed. I'll be back before you know it." She nods, but decides she's going to have a talk with Josef or Robert or both. There is something he's not telling her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Denton sits in the back of the limo thinking about the altercation with St. John. Well, he found out what he wanted to know, the hard way certainly, but at least he knows what they are protecting. Denton is not an idiot. First off, he could smell the human and that smell, her smell had not been there before. He's sure she must belong to St. John because in all the years they have known one another he has never gone to such lengths to get rid of Denton. Denton is sure there is only one thing that would elicit this kind of violence from St. John and that is a female he is protecting. She must be something special for Josef to add his protection to her as well; food for thought.

Mick is done with Beth's list and drops off the things she requested, and then heads back out.

First stop is his apartment. He needs some time in his own freezer. It has been a long night, and into the morning, by the time it was all said and done.

Beth is dressed in her own clothes again. It's late in the afternoon but everyone is still down for the day. Much earlier Mick went to her place and got her clothes, he said so he wouldn't have to smell Josef every time he kisses her. She laughs at the thought of that. Mick also brought her a couple books and her MP3 player. He was trying to find things that will keep her from being too bored.

Josef's chef is human, and while he is making Beth a sandwich she spends some time quizzing him about living in this house and cooking for Josef's girls. She can tell she's driving him crazy and she finally feels sorry for him and leaves him alone.

Beth decides that she will just sit at the table off the kitchen and have her sandwich. It feels odd in the rest of the house with everyone asleep. It feels empty and she doesn't like feeling like she's alone. A girl wanders into the kitchen. Beth watches her talk to the chef. Beth notices the girl is about 20 and very beautiful. Beth figures she must be one of Josef's girls. Beth never sees them because they spend all of their time in another wing of the house.

Chef hands the girl a salad. She starts to come to the table Beth is sitting at and stops. The girl hesitates. Beth smiles at her hoping she will sit down. Beth would love to have someone to talk to.

The girl stops short of the table and narrows her eyes at Beth when she sees the fang marks on Beth's neck. Beth realizes the girl thinks they are from Josef and she laughs. "Come on sit down. It's not what you seem to think." The girl is still hesitant, but figures maybe she can find out if this is the reason Josef didn't come see any of them for a whole day, even though he was home.

Beth smiles at her. "My name is Beth."

The girl looks at her wearily. "Emily." She states.

"Well, Emily it's nice to meet you."

Emily nods at her. "Are you a friend of Josef?" Emily asks.

Beth smiles "Yes, but not like you're a friend of Josef. Actually I'm a better friend of Mick. Do you know Mick?"

Emily really smiles at her for the first time. "Yes, I know Mick. He's a nice guy and we all like him even if he doesn't ever…. well, you know."

They chat for a little while and Emily looks at Beth's neck more pointedly. "Ah, I was wondering, about the marks on your neck, Mick?" Emily hopes she hadn't asked the wrong question. Beth seems upset.

"I was attacked the other night by three vampires. Two of them bit me. Josef found me and took care of me until Mick could get back home. He was out of town."

"You know, I forget sometimes that there are vamps out there who aren't like Josef and Mick. Well, unless that awful Denton is visiting, then I remember. I wish Josef wouldn't let him stay here. He's not nice. I was glad when I heard Mick tossed his butt out of here last night. I would have loved to have watched him sail through the front window."

Beth perks up at the mention of the fight. "Hey, I was sleeping when that happened, and I didn't get a chance to ask Mick about it. What happened?"

Just then they both hear someone clearing their throat. Both of them turn to see Josef standing in the doorway. Beth wonders how long he's been there._Damn sneaky vamps_. Josef looks at Emily, "I think you two have had enough of a visit. Beth needs to rest. She's had a rough time of it."

Emily smiles at Josef and turns back to Beth. "It was nice talking to you. You know if you put some Vitamin E on those wounds they will heal up faster. Bye."

"Thanks, I'll do that. It was nice talking to you."

Beth turns to Josef. "We were having a nice time. How come you made her leave?"

He smiles gently at her. "You need your rest."

"If I get anymore rest I'm going to go stir crazy. Josef, how come Mick threw that guy through the window?"

Josef sighs and sits down. "You tell Mick he owes me for this. He should have discussed this with you himself. I think he's just feeling over-protective at the moment and doesn't want you worrying about anything. Mick and Denton hate each other and have for years. Denton is a thug; he will do things that need to be done that, lets just say, Mick won't do, so I've tolerated him. I got rid of Denton before I brought you here, but he came back for a case he left behind, probably on purpose so he could find out what was going on. Mick was in no mood for him. Mick stood at the bottom of the stairs and would have killed him before he would have let Denton up those stairs where you were sleeping. So, he tossed Denton through the special ordered, pain in the ass to replace, plate glass window and dented my Ferrari." Beth laughs at that.

Josef smiles, "Actually it was good for Mick. It took some of the edge off him. He was wired pretty tight after what happened."

Beth looks a little nervous. "Is Denton likely to be trouble?"

"I don't think so. Mick and I made it clear that he was not welcome here again, and I made sure he knew that Mick and anyone he associates is under my protection. Don't worry about it. Besides once Mick finishes up his business and you leave here, you're going to be lucky if you can shake him for some time to come."

She smiles, that knowing smile women have when they are in love, and Josef wonders if Mick has any idea what he's in for.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When twilight rolls around, Mick takes a good look at his apartment to make sure that the evidence of Beth's attack was erased as much as possible. He knows that it is going to take a little while for her to feel comfortable in the apartment again. He doesn't want anything to make it worse. He has to admit they did a pretty good job on the clean up. He moves a few things around to hide a couple of pictures that were removed because of broken glass.

Next Mick calls The Cleaner and makes arrangements to see her. She says she can see him right away.

Mick walks across the dark parking lot. The Cleaner is waiting for him. "St. John, hey nice to see you didn't get caught in the cross fire."

Mick laughs softly, "Heard she took a shot at Josef. She was worried she might have hit you when I mentioned you were there. Thank you for helping Josef with her and thanks for getting my place back in order."

"You know, I'm not much for your average human, but that girl of yours did pretty well. She stayed alive and managed to take out one of the bad guys. Not bad. She'll make a good vampire some day."

"You sound like Josef. So, what do you have for me on the dead one?"

"He was only sixty; name was Luke, just your average punk. From the sounds of it he would have had to be put down at some point anyway. This wasn't the first time he and his buddies have been involved in something like this. The three of them killed a couple of other women, one up in San Francisco and another here somewhere. They aren't hiding their fang marks or calling me or anything else they are suppose to do. They are a danger to us all. The difference from what I can find out is that your girl fought them."

"Any idea about the other two? Has anyone seen them around?"

"I was told that he ran with two others about the same age. They hang out at a pool hall over on 5th. From what I could find out, you can find them there most nights, although that may not be the case if they know you're hunting them. Are you going to take care of this?"

Mick flashes his fangs. "What do you think?"

"Yea, dumb question." The Cleaner takes out a pen and her card and writes down the names of the two that Mick is looking for.

He takes the card. "I'll call you when it's done. Send me the bill."

"Can't. Josef said he's paying the freight on this one. Just call me when it's time."

They both disappear into the darkness.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the early evening a messenger shows up. Robert takes the package and Josef tells him to give it to Beth. The two of them look on as she tears into the package to discover a very nice new laptop.

There is a note.

_To the lovely Beth, This one has about twice the power and memory of your old one. All your files transferred with no problem so everything should be there. Ask Josef to give you the guest codes for his wireless network._

_Ryder._

_P.S. It was Josef's idea._

Beth gives a yell and is so happy to have her laptop back she gives Robert a hug first, since he's closest, and then runs to Josef and hugs him and thanks him for the present.

Beth sits down to check out all the new features on the laptop. Josef smiles. That should keep her busy for a couple days and hopefully out of trouble.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Denton sits in the airport bar waiting for his plane. He was going back to Detroit. He would think on how to get even with St. John from there. No need to stay in California.

Denton smells the decay before he sees her. All he knows is that she is very old. He looks up as she sits down across from him. She's a very beautiful woman, no idea of her age of course but if he had to guess he would say over 400. She is older than Josef that is for sure. He doesn't say anything just watches her.

She smiles at him, "I understand that you and Josef have had a falling out due to St. John."

Denton nods. "Word travels fast."

"How would you like to get even with the two of them?"

Denton smiles "You've got my attention. Keep talking."

"St. John and Josef need a lesson, and you can help me give them that."

"That's all well and good. You're right, I would like to get even with those two, but I still need to get paid. I don't do anything for free."

"How about I make St. John's human a present to you?"

Denton perks up immediately. "If you can help me get that, you can consider that all the payment I need."

"I thought that might be the case."

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**Ding ding ding :) As usual like to hear readers thoughts**


	5. Chapter 5

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

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Mick walks into the pool hall and slowly wonders through the crowd. He doesn't see either of the men that Beth described. This is a very vamp friendly pool hall. Mick gets close and realizes even the bartender is a vampire. He slowly approaches the bar. "Hey, I'm looking for a couple of guys I was told hang out here. One's name is Jorge and the other is Rafe. Have you seen them tonight?"

The bartender wonders if St. John remembers him. He smiles at Mick. "You don't remember me do you?"

Mick thinks this could be good or this could be bad. "No, sorry. Has it been a long time?"

"Yes, well, sort of. Depends on who's keeping track. My name is Harvey, Harvey Black. About 15 years ago you helped clear me of murder."

Mick thinks for a moment. "I remember you. Hey, weren't you human then?"

Harvey smiles. "I was and, of course, I had no idea you weren't."

Harvey offers Mick his hand and they shake. "So, Mick, what can I do for you?"

Mick hopes this is a good sign. "I'm looking for a pair of vamps. One goes by the name Jorge and the other Rafe. They use to have a third named Luke. I hear they hang out here. Have they been in lately?"

Harvey smiles. "Does use to have a third, mean what I think it means?"

Mick laughs. "It does. The three of them were terrorizing a human female. She killed him for it and lived to tell me about it."

"Really? Good for her. Those three are trouble wherever they go. I can't name five vamps that would call them friend. But what does that have to do with you?"

"She's my human and I'm damned unhappy about her being attacked." Mick thinks the more he says that to the local community the better. Josef's so right about that.

Harvey sees the grim look on Mick's face and thinks there will be two more dead as soon as he catches up to them. "Let's see, last time I saw any of that bunch was a few nights ago. It must have been before that incident because all three were in together. They haven't been in since."

"Any idea where they would go to hide out? I'm sure they know I'm hunting them."

"No, but you see that blond vamp in the corner?" Mick nods. "Well that's Jason and he also seems to have a dire need to catch up with them. You might talk to him."

Mick walks over to the man in the corner. "I hear we have a mutual concern to take care of."

Jason leans back in his chair and smiles thinly. "And what would that be?"

"Jorge and Rafe. I hear you're looking for them."

Jason's eyes darken at the mention of the names. "And Luke."

Mick motions to the chair. "You'll find Luke won't be a problem anymore. Mind if I sit down?"

Jason smiles a genuine smile. "Go ahead, Mr……"

Mick grabs the chair and faces the door before he sits down. "St. John, Mick St. John. And you're?"

Jason offers him his hand. "Jason Andrews"

The two men shake. "I can't wait to hear why Luke isn't part of the problem anymore."

"I was out of town and the three of them ambushed a human female, my human female. She managed to kill him for his trouble. The other two got away. I want them. No one touches her and gets away with it."

Luke looks sad. "Glad she got him. I wish I had taught Amelia to defend herself. She never had a chance. I was out of town at the time also."

Mick and Jason look at each other and finally Mick says what he suspects they are both thinking. "Interesting. I find it odd that both of the women that these animals killed or tried to kill are both human?" Jason nods. "And both have male vampires they associate with, and both of us were out of town at the time of the attacks just a little too much coincidence for my taste. My information also suggests that, not only was your Amelia killed by them, but also another woman. I think I need to find out about that other woman."

They are both silent for a moment, and then Mick breaks the silence. "Jason, I'm a P.I. If you could tell me what happened maybe it will help me find them."

Jason thinks about it for a minute. "As long as you give me a call if you catch up with them, and let me know the situation has been taken care of."

Mick nods as Jason begins to tell him about himself and Amelia and what he was able to put together after he got home. It was strikingly the same encounter that Beth had, but unfortunately for Amelia she wasn't as lucky as Beth.

Mick glances at the door when he hears it open and his eyes flash for a second. Jason notices this. "Friend of yours?"

Luckily, Denton hasn't seen him across the crowded room. "I threw him through a plate glass window yesterday. Unfortunately, it didn't slice off his head when he went through. I'm going out the side door. Cover me if he comes over here. I would rather he not know how much information I have. Be careful if he approaches you. He is dangerous."

Jason nods. "Will do, and you'll call me when it's done."

Mick smiles grimly "Of course." Mick blends into the crowd and goes out the side door.

Mick smells the night air and suddenly has an overwhelming need to see Beth. He gets in his car and heads for Josef's. Hearing about Amelia's death made him sad, made him realize how lucky he was Beth was still alive.

Mick finally reaches Josef's, and Robert meets him at the door. "Is Beth still awake?"

Robert smiles, "I think she's asleep. She couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She was working with her new laptop, and I told her if she didn't go upstairs and get to bed I would carry her up myself."

Robert looks at Mick a little concerned. "Something's happened, you don't look so good."

"I just…..need to see her…" Mick says in a halting voice.

Robert nods. "Well, you know where she is."

Mick heads up the stairs taking them two at a time. Robert wonders if what happened to Beth is finally hitting Mick beyond the anger.

Mick slips in her room. For a moment he stands and watches her sleep. Thinking of what could have happened makes it hard for him to breath. He needs to hold her in his arms. He gets control of himself, strips down to his boxers and slides in next to her in bed.

She mumbles his name in her half sleep and moves into his arms. Mick holds her tight and looks down at her. The thought of her being hurt at all brings a tear to his eyes. What an idiot he's been all this time. This woman owns him body and soul and he realizes it's been that way for an awful long time. He lays there with her listening to her heart, to her breath. It comforts him like nothing else.

After awhile, Mick slides out of the warmth of her arms and he sees a frown cross her face in her sleep. He leans down and kisses her gently on the lips. He just had to see her, to feel her, to make sure she was ok. Feeling like he can go on now, he turns back to the work at hand. He gets dressed, and writes Beth a note telling her Jason and Amelia's names and asks her to see what she can come up with. Both were living in San Francisco at the time of the attack, so she maybe able to come up with something he won't find locally. It will give her something to do to help, and he knows she will like that.

Mick doesn't see Robert or Josef as he comes down the stairs. Mick has an idea and goes in search of one or the other. He finds Robert in the study, "Robert where is Josef? I need to ask him a couple of questions."

"He left a few hours ago. He's at the office."

Mick nods and heads out. On his way to Josef's office, Mick decides to make a side trip to Jenny's. He smiles. Won't she be surprised?

Jenny's is the name of a private club for vamps. It's also the name of the vampire who owns the place. The clientele is mostly males, but not always, and these days he imagines probably fifty-fifty.

Jenny was turned in the 1800s. She had been a working girl in Dodge City when Wyatt Earp was marshal. She was very beautiful with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Once she was turned she built up a clientele of very rich vamps that wanted to socialize with their own and relax with an open bar, as it were. Mick and Josef spent a lot of time in this club before he rescued Beth. Over the last several years she and Josef clashed over her stable and Josef's girls because they both always want the most intelligent, beautiful girls with the purest taste. Josef's private stock is legendary, as are Jenny's girls.

Mick pulls up at the private club. He goes to the front door not bothering to try and get past the vamp at the door. It's been twenty-two years, but he's sure she will remember him. He pauses at the huge doorman. "Could you tell Jenny that Mick St. John would like to see her?"

The vamp nods and speaks into his headset. The doorman grunts. "She says you should go right in."

Mick walks down the entrance hall to the main club and Jenny is standing there with her arms out. He gives her a hug and she wrinkles his nose at him. "I take it your not here for the girls." He knows she can smell Beth on him.

Mick smiles at her, "No, Jen, I need some information. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

She starts to walk towards her office shaking her head. "What's it been Mick ….twenty years since you've been here? You know you could at least come by and say hello now and then."

He looks at her sheepishly. "Ah, couldn't, to much temptation."

She sits at her desk and he sits across from her. She looks at him trying to figure out what's changed. "When you stopped coming around I asked Josef what happened, and he said you'd gone retail." She smiles wanly at him. "We all hoped it was just a phase you were going through. You know when you stopped hanging out here, eventually I lost Josef. He started his own private stock and I've had to fight him fang and nail for girls ever since." She glowers at him for a minute, and then smiles. "So who is she? I hope she's worth my troubles."

He gives her that dopey half smile. "Her name is Beth, and yes she is"

"Lucky girl." Jenny says under her breath.

Mick gets serious. "Jenny, she was attacked the other night. She killed one, but the other two got away."

Jenny looks at him quizzically. "Wait…she's human right?" He nods. "Against three vamps, she killed one and she's still alive?"

Mick nods. "She's a fighter, but she also got really lucky. Look, I can't let this go. These guys have to be dealt with. I was just wondering if you know anything about them? They go by the names Jorge, Rafe and the dead one was Luke."

Jenny snorts. "Those three. All I can tell you is all three of them were banned from here about ten years ago. They were terrible to the girls. Weren't happy unless they were alternately scaring them or hurting them. I had to hire extra security for a year to make sure the girls were safe from them. You know I think I may know someone who might know them. There is a friend of mine, has a club like this in The Tenderloin up in San Francisco. Her girls and her clientele are somewhat more exotic than mine. I'll call her if you like."

Mick nods. "That would be great."

Jenny smiles at him. "You know, we still serve some of the best scotch in town. Why don't you go to the bar and have one while I try to get her on the phone. It could take a few minutes."

Mick smiles. "Sure." He leaves her office and looks around. She's always changing with the times. The décor is much different then it was before, but the layout is the same. He heads over to the bar and orders a scotch, neat. The bartender looks at him questioningly and then shrugs and pours him one straight out of the bottle. He hands it over and Mick looks around. A beautiful redhead sidles up to him. He looks at her out of the corner of his eye. She smiles at him and holds out her arm. He smiles, shakes his head and she gives him a small pout.

Jenny walks up about that time "Sylvie, leave this one alone. He's an old friend and he's got his own stock."

The girl smiles and puts her finger under his chin. "If you ever want a little variety just call." And she slinks off.

Mick smiles and shakes his head. "Some things never change. You have some gorgeous women around here."

Jenny looks at Mick slyly. "Better than Josef's?"

Mick laughs "Don't drag me in to it. You'll be telling Josef I said you have better girls than he does, and he'll be on my doorstep trying to make me pick one, Beth or no Beth. I don't need the headache."

Jenny sighs and motions for him to come back to the office. "Irene says that those three were in there pretty regularly for a couple of years and then nothing. She hasn't seen them in the last three weeks. She said she would call me right away if they showed up."

Mick nods. "Well, it was worth a try. Thanks."

Mick gets up to leave and Jenny calls back to him. "Hey now that you seem a little immune to temptation, you might drop by and at least say hi now and then. You could bring Beth, we could have some girl talk."

Mick laughs out loud. "Yea, right, Jen. Like I'm going to let that happen. You don't know this girl, she would question you mercilessly and I don't think either of us wants that."

Jenny laughs and teasingly tells him. "Aw, Mick it would be fun."

He laughs again and heads for the door.

Mick arrives at Josef's office and he's on the phone. Mick walks over and sits down waiting for him. Josef looks up and scowls at him. He hangs up, the scowl still on his face. "Do me a favor would you? Next time you decide to send some vamp flying through the air, miss the window, and aim for the wall. Do you have any idea how much of a pain it's going to be to replace that window? And I had to trade the Ferrari in. It will never be the same."

Mick sighs. "Josef, you know I'm sorry. It was Denton and he was trying to go upstairs where Beth was. For once, I just figured screw it and let the vamp take over. Tell me you didn't enjoy seeing that creep flying through the air."

Josef smiles. "It was a sight to behold. I don't think I've seen anyone get quite that much air out of a vampire in a long time. Hell of a good throw. Now, what's up? You didn't come in here so I could bust you about the window and the car."

"No, I didn't. Do you know an investment banker in San Francisco named Jason Andrews?"

Josef nods. "Sure. I've done business with him on several occasions."

Mick sighs. "That's what I was afraid of. I met him tonight. He's trying to find the same guys I am. The Cleaner told me that those three had killed at least two other women; maybe more. They aren't hiding their handy work or calling her, or anything else to hide what they were doing. Well, one of those women was Jason's human. From what he told me, the resemblance to what happened to Beth was very similar, except that Beth came out alive and Amelia didn't. He was also out of town at the time of the attack. too. I'm going to call The Cleaner and ask her if she can find out about any other women they attacked and see if more of a pattern turns up, but I don't like the way this looks. It doesn't look so random anymore."

Josef frowns. "I wondered why I hadn't heard from Jason in awhile. You know, I think I even met Amelia once. I went up to get a change of scenery and do some business at the same time, and the three of us went to dinner. I remember thinking she was very pretty and awfully nice, but she was timid. I was even on my best behavior."

Mick snorts at him. "Yea, what ever that means. Oh, and before I forget it looks like Denton is also looking for those two. Now why would that be?"

Josef looks surprised. "Interesting. Since I fired him the other day, after you tossed him through the one of a kind window and dented my car,"

Mick smiles. "I'm never going to hear the end of that, am I?"

"No. I told him I would no longer need his services. I would guess someone who doesn't want you to find those two and has hired Denton to make sure they stay quiet. Now who would do that? You're right. You need to find out about any other woman and find out if there is more of a pattern."

Mick gets up and heads out, but Josef calls him back. "Hey, I hear you stopped at Jenny's."

Mick smiles. "Word travels fast. I wanted to ask her if she ever had any dealings with those three and I would appreciate it if you let me tell Beth."

Josef smiles with a glint in his eye. "Uh, speaking of which. I might have gotten cornered into telling her about you tossing Denton through the window."

Mick scowled at him. "Josef you never get cornered into telling anyone anything you don't want to."

Josef looked a little sheepish. "Yea, well I think she needed to know and I sort of had to distract her from something else."

Mick looks at him questioningly. "I would have told her, eventually. What did you need to distract her from?"

"When I found her, she was in the kitchen quizzing Emily about the fight, about a lot of things. They were having a regular girls lunch. Mick, you know how I feel about Beth, but I don't need her having a gab session with any of the girls."

Mick laughs "So you told Beth about Denton to distract her from spending more time with Emily?" Mick just shakes his head. "You know if she decides to do it again you're going to have to just sit her down and ask her to stay away from the girls. She will do it for you, but she won't like it and it's the only way she'll stay away if she gets it into her head that they know something she wants to know."

Josef sighs, "I know. So back to Jenny, who do you think has better girls?"

Mick laughs. "I do." And he turns and leaves the office.

Mick gets in his car and calls The Cleaner. "Hey do you have any information on any of the dead women that these three can be linked to?"

There was silence for a minute. "No, none was given to me, just that they were killed. I'll ask around and see what I can find out. I'll call you if I find anything out."

"Thanks, hey and be careful. I think Denton is looking for those two as well. He's dangerous."

"And you don't think I am?" She said into the phone rather testily.

"Yes, I know you are. I just want you to be prepared." Mick sighs into the phone and hangs up.

Mick heads home as dawn is fast approaching. He sits down on the couch and makes one more phone call. He doesn't want to wake her, but he needs to hear her voice before he turns in. "Hey."

"Hey yourself" she answers. "You know, I had the strangest dream last night."

He smiles into the phone, "Good one I hope."

"Oh very good. I dreamed that this wonderful man I've fallen in love with slipped into bed with me and held me close."

"Maybe it wasn't just a dream."

"Well, if it wasn't, then how come he didn't wake me up when he was here and how come he was gone when I woke up? Must have been a dream."

"Probably because he knew you needed your sleep. I'm sure he was just desperate to hold you, needed to know you were safe."

Beth realizes he sounds like something is bothering him. "Hey, what happened? You sound sad."

"I'm fine. I just had a bad night. You remember that I told you that those three that attacked you were most likely responsible for at least two other women?"

"Yes"

"Well, I met a vampire who was in love with one of them. They killed her. That could have been you. I needed to see you."

"It's ok, I'm ok. I'm right here driving everyone crazy."

"I know, but like I said, I just had to hold you."

Beth giggles. "Hey, any time you want to hold me or do anything else you just slip in to bed next to me. I'm all yours."

Mick let out a low growl. "I miss you. I hate to say this, but this could take a few more days than I thought. We'll see how it goes tonight. There seem to be patterns. What happened to you may not have been so random. Did you get my note?"

"Yes, and just as soon as I finish getting up, I'll start on it. Right now I'm still in one of your t-shirts in bed…with nothing else on…. missing you…"

Mick lets out a groan. "You'll leave a message if you find anything?"

"Of course. You'll call me when you get up?"

"Not if you don't stop telling me about how little you're wearing."

Beth giggles and hangs up. Mick heads up to the freezer, thinking about Beth in his t-shirt…. with nothing else on…missing him…

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**Ding ding ding! As always love to hear what readers think... :) **


	6. Chapter 6

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

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Beth is sitting in Josef's study hard at work when he comes home. He walks in to his study to find her at his desk. She has her laptop sitting in front of her, a pad to the side and a pencil stuck behind her ear and damn it he thinks Mick's right, she is the best looking one of the bunch. He shakes himself a little. _Got to quit thinking about her like that._ Josef clears his throat so she won't be startled.

Beth looks up. "Oh, hey, you probably want your desk back. Sorry. It was the most comfortable place to work. Mick asked me to do some research for him." Beth goes to move her stuff off his desk.

Josef holds up his hand. "Help yourself. We don't exactly keep the same hours. I just want to drop off my briefcase and then I'm going to hit the freezer." Josef is relieved that she has something to keep her occupied. Hopefully, it will keep her out of trouble until he gets up.

Josef turns to leave the room and he hears Beth say. "Josef, don't worry, I'll stay away from Emily and the rest of the girls." Beth has given this a great deal of thought. He obviously isn't comfortable with them talking, and as much as it bugs her she owes Josef way too much to make him uncomfortable about something she can easily control She admits to herself that she cares about Josef too much to let this be a problem. Although why it bothers him, she has no idea.

He looks back at her and she is looking down, making notes on whatever she is reading. He smiles at the top of her head. "Thank you." He says softly, and Josef goes off to his freezer. He will have to ask Mick if he said something to her.

Beth stares at the laptop. She isn't finding much on Jason or Amelia. Not finding anything on Jason isn't a surprise. If he is anything like Josef, he works hard to stay out of the limelight. Now, on Amelia, there isn't even a police report or newspaper account of her death. Had Jason called San Francisco's equivalent of the cleaner instead of calling the police? Probably what happened, but if that was the case, maybe Mick needs to talk to whomever the cleaner is up in San Francisco. Beth goes back to her laptop to do more research and make more calls.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At nine that night Mick finds himself in an alley behind the pool hall on 5th that Jorge and Rafe were supposed to frequent. Mick crosses to The Cleaner to see what she has found.

She's looking down at a couple of dead vamps. "I take it since I didn't get any calls that you didn't do this?"

Mick looked over the two bodies. "I take it this is Rafe and Jorge."

The Cleaner nods. "The bartender ID'ed them."

"Wasn't me, I'd have called you. My guess is it was Denton. I sure wish I knew who he was working for."

"I thought he worked for Josef?"

Mick grins. "Well, they had a falling out precipitated by me throwing Denton through a plate glass window at Josef's."

The Cleaner laughs and then stops. "Not the one in the front that he had to have special ordered when the house was built? That is going to be a pain in the ass to replace."

Mick laughs."Yes, that one and you haven't heard the half of it. He slammed into the Ferrari when he went through the window. Josef had to trade it. Said it would never be the same."

The Cleaner shakes her head. "You're lucky Josef likes you or you'd probably be in a world of hurt by now."

"Ya think?" is all he can say.

He smiles at her. "Ok, let's get back to the dead vamps. Who called it in?"

"The bartender went to empty the trash and found them. He called me and I called you, but I haven't found anything to let me in on who may have done this."

"Let me give it a try." Mick goes over to the bodies and uses his vampire senses to try and figure out who killed Jorge and Rafe. He definitely gets a whiff of Denton, but there was someone else… someone familiar, but not familiar. He will have to try and bring that memory back.

Mick walks back to The Cleaner. "Well, I got a whiff of Denton, but that's no surprise to me but there is someone else, someone I should know but can't place. I'm not seeing anything, like it's blocked. Have to give it some thought. Did you find out anything about any other woman that was murdered by these two?"

"The first one was Amelia." Mick holds up his hand. "I actually ran into her Vampire. I have lots on her. How about the other one?"

"The other woman was named Alicia and she also had a male Vampire association. His name is Darius Fitzsimmons"

"What kind of job did he have? Do you know?" Mick thought since Beth couldn't come up with anything personal or through the police it must be something work related. Although what he and an investment banker had in common, besides Josef, he couldn't imagine.

"He speculates on precious metals, gold, silver, platinum, that kind of thing. She was a nurse at a hospital here in LA."

Mick flips out his phone. "Josef, do you know a precious metal speculator named Darius Fitzsimmons?"

"Sure. I've done business…" Josef stops and then Mick hears him say. "Oh shit, Lola"

Mick closes his eyes. He does not like that sound of that. "Josef, what about Lola?"

When The Cleaner hears Lola's name she swings around and stares at Mick. Through gritted teeth she hisses at him. "That bitch better be dead. I spent weeks cleaning up innocent vamps that she had killed with no more thought than swatting fly."

Mick makes a face and waves his hand at her to be quiet so he can hear Josef. She hisses at him and moves off.

Josef sits back in his chair looking at the ceiling. "After you told me about Lola buying up all that silver, I decided to try and make it impossible for her to get much more with the capital she had left. We certainly couldn't buy up all the silver in the world but we could try to drive the price up far enough out of her range to prevent her from buying a significant amount. It was me, Jason and Darius. The three of us a hedge fund trader, an investment banker and a metals speculator all we had to do was hold the price up long enough for you to put her out of business. It has to be. She went after the most important things in their lives, their women, and she did the same to you for killing her business."

"Josef, she has to be dead. She was in a water bath of silver nitrate and the place blew up like someone dropped a bomb on it. Lola can not be alive."

"Mick, no offense, but your record for killing really old female vamps is not exactly stellar. I'm beginning to think when they are that old it means you have to take their heads to kill them. Look, let's go with this theory for now. I really hate to say it, but that has got to be it, and I was the one that got Jason and Darius into this mess."

Mick hears Josef trail off and knows he feels responsible for Amelia's and Alicia's deaths. "Josef, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known."

"Yes, but I should have warned them that if that vindictive bitch got loose this is the kind of stuff she would do." _Damn._

"Alright Josef, lets go with that track, but how come she hasn't gone after….you know…." Mick didn't even want to say Sarah's name out loud.

Josef was pinching the bridge of his nose. "Because she has no idea. There are only two people in the community who know about that besides me and that's you and Beth."

For once Mick was glad that Josef was not given too many emotional entanglements. "Is there anyone else, she might go after to get even with you?"

Josef sighs, "No one that's still alive."

Mick thinks for a minute. "Josef besides the thing we won't mention, _Sarah, _is there anything else that she could do that would really hurt you? Think how Lola's mind works. What can she use against you to get even."

"Mick, there isn't anything for this very reason. In this position if you have things that are that important to you, sooner or later they get used against you. It's just the way it is. She knows that about me."

"Ok, something that's not as important to you as say, Beth is to me, but maybe something that would take a lifetime to replace and something you really like having."

"The only thing that fits that is my money and my business. I don't know how she can get to either without me knowing it, or without some very fancy footwork. I'll make some calls."

"Hey Josef you know, there is something that you have, we all have it, that especially in this day and age, can't be replaced and can make life a living hell if it's gone."

Josef was very quite. "She wouldn't. It would guarantee her execution by someone if not me. She would not take my anonymity…if she exposes me, and the rest of us to the world, vampires far older and far more powerful than I am would hunt her down and kill her. The damage to the community would be beyond repair. It's the only way we've been able to survive in the limited numbers we have."

"Is she that self destructive? This is a vampire that last time we met was draining her own for money. Would she stray that far from our codes?"

"I just don't know. It's hard to imagine. Mick, I need to make some phone calls."

"Ok, I'm going after Denton. We really need to find him. He could lead us to her."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef sits and stares off into the dark. He holds his cutlass across his lap. _Could she, Would she?_ He turns the cutlass over, feeling the blade. He cuts himself and he smiles, sharp as ever. After what she did the last time the answer keeps coming up yes. She doesn't think any of the rules apply to her anymore. If you're willing to kill your own in large numbers for nothing more than money, what won't you do? He hopes Mick is wrong about this. It could be another witch-hunt on a scale never seen. He remembers when he came into possession of the cutlass. It was a gift from the lady trying to raise a pirate army. What happened to that woman? Josef sighs and goes to his study to find Beth. "Hey, you can stop now. We know who's behind the three that went after you and killed Amelia and Alicia."

Beth's looks up. "Lola."

Josef was taken aback by this, "How did you figure out who it was? Mick and I didn't even know until we put the pieces together a few minutes ago."

Beth enjoys surprising Josef. "I just put the pieces together myself. I looked for what wasn't there. I started doing missing person searches that were in the last two weeks and then background checks on those people. After doing one on Jason I realized what kinds of things to look for that are missing when a vampire is involved, like birth records and the like. I found that Alicia must have been associated with a vampire, so then I dug until I found out what he does. Once I knew that it wasn't hard to figure out what three vampires, all of which are high powered money types would be working on that would get this kind of response and involve Mick. Lola is the only thing that makes sense."

Josef looks impressed. "When you're ready to quit Buzzwire and make some real money, call me."

She laughs, "Thank you Josef. I think that was a compliment."

Beth can see the shift in his attitude. "Beth, please stay here for a bit. I need to have a word with Robert, but I need to talk to you for a bit also."

Beth looks at him quizzically, but the tone of his voice worries her. "Sure."

Josef finds Robert going over the household accounts. "Robert, I want you to pack some bags. Take anything that you can't bear to leave behind and go to the Chalet in Iceland. Pack like you're not coming back."

Robert looks at Josef like he's been struck. "What's happened?"

Josef shakes his head. "Nothing, I hope, but I'd rather be pleasantly surprised that it was an unnecessary trip than take the chance of losing an old friend. Please also take any of the household staff that are not human and send the girls to Jenny's and the rest of the household staff home to their families."

Robert starts to shake his head. "Josef, I'm not leaving. I've worked for you for over two hundred years. I'm not leaving now. That will leave you, Beth and the security guys the only ones here."

"Robert, I need you to go there and prepare for a large influx of refugees. I have many contacts in that part of the world and we decided a long time ago to make sure there are enough of our people in place in the government of Iceland and the populace, so that if we needed a refuge that would be it. The human populace is very small and very forward thinking. I think we can make a case for asylum based on genetic prejudice. "

Robert looks amazed.

Josef continues. "Robert once you've met the torch and pitchfork crowd, you never forget and you always prepare for the worst. Once was enough for me. Please do as I say."

Robert nods and goes to pack.

Josef goes back to his study. Beth is looking out the window he watches her for a minute. He realized it is going to kill him and Mick both to leave her behind. She might be able to follow them later if everything goes well, but there was no way he is risking her life by taking her in the beginning. He wouldn't be able to ensure her safety. That kind of concentration of vamps in one place would not be the place for her

"Beth?"

She turns to him. She looks scared. "Josef, what's happening?"

He smiles sadly. "Nothing I hope. I'm just implementing some precautions. I need to talk to you. Please sit down."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick calls Ryder "Hey, you know a vamp named Denton?"

Ryder just grunts into the phone. "I hear you tossed him through Josef's window. Good job."

Mick laughed. "Another fan, I see. Ryder, Josef has his cell number, I'm sure. I need to locate him in a hurry. Can you do a trace and at least give me places he's been in the last 24 hrs. I know you can only locate close to cell towers, but I'll take anything I can get at this point. Hey, I just thought of something else, if he's driving he had to have rented a car. See if you can find anything out about that. Some of the rental companies are using LoJack systems. That would tell us exactly where the car is at least."

"I'll start on it right away. I'll call you as soon as I get anything."

Mick thanks him and hangs up. Next he calls The Cleaner. "Hey, I need you to call in any favor, talk to any snitch, talk to any contact you have. I have to find Denton as soon as possible. We have to find Lola, like yesterday, and he's our best chance. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure. It will be a pleasure."

"Tell them that Josef will pay a reward for information that pans out. What do you think would get them motivated?"

"I'd say $50,000 would be a nice amount. Are you going to ask Josef about this or do you just want to do it?"

"Just do it. Josef will be more than happy to pay that amount if it helps us find Lola."

"It's done." And she hangs up.

Mick calls Robert at the house. "Hey, I need to know how I can reach that kid that was supposed to take Denton to the hotel the other day."

"I can have him call you back. Josef had him stay over until someone was going back to town. He's staying with the security guys."

"Great, Robert. I need to talk to him right away."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef leans across his desk and looks at her intently. "Beth, I need to ask you some questions about your job. If you were going to run an Internet campaign to disprove something that was true, how would you go about it?"

Beth stares at him for a minute. She automatically knows what he is getting at. "Josef, first off you have to ask yourself what she has to do in order to prove what she says is true. More and more people only believe what they can touch and feel. Digital photography manipulation and the internet hoaxes have made it impossible to believe the impossible without solid proof. which means a body. She has to deliver the goods to someone. Who would she send a drained body to or even a vamp body for them to examine? In addition to a drained body she would have to send a clip of it happening, and even then I'm not sure it would be believed."

Beth closes her eyes trying to think this through. "She would almost have to do it live and in person for it to be believed by regular people. You're always going to have the conspiracy types and the cult types, but that's not a problem. The problem is if she can mainstream the idea or start a panic. I don't see any of TV people touching this except as an obvious hoax, unless she does an actual live demo for them. It has to start on the net. People fear what they don't understand, but they have to believe it first."

Beth continues talking more to herself than to Josef. "If I thought that strike was coming I would get ahead of it. Vampires tend to come and go out of popular culture. I would make them the fan boys and girls darlings for the moment. I would flood the 'net with everything from homemade music videos containing vamps or hoaxes that look real to every kind of cheesy fan boy site imaginable."

"At least on the 'net she would get lost in the millions of Google hits. She would be one of many goof ball sites. If nothing else, it might give you the time to get to her before she can do an in-person demonstration for some news outlet. How come you're not asking Ryder this stuff?"

"Ryder works with the nuts and bolts, not the content. For that I need someone who puts content out there." Josef smiled. "Beth, if what you say is true, do you think anyone believes any newscasts you do?"

She smiles. "Sure because I'm usually only asking them to believe murder; they can believe that. It's when you ask them to believe something so far out of the immediate personal experience that they need concrete proof. Hell, I'm not sure you could prove going to the moon anymore if it hadn't happened originally in the '60s."

"Now as for the Europeans, and the rest of the world, I have no idea. You probably have a better read on that than I do, or you know someone who does. Also, make some calls to some media types you trust and get a second opinion. This is just my experience. For God's sake, don't gamble an entire race on it."

Josef gets up and walks around his desk. He kisses the top of her head. "Thank you for seeing us as more than monsters. You're right; I need to make some call, but I need a little time to think." He walks across to the windows and stares out into the darkness.

Beth stands up and watches him. He seems so melancholy. It isn't like him. Beth walks over and stands behind him. "Josef it's not to late too stop her. Please pull out of this. You're scaring me. I don't want to lose you and Mick because you have to go into hiding. The two of you mean too much to me."

Josef stays with his back to her. He closes his eyes. Josef hears a very soft "Good night." And she is gone.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**I want to thank everyone for their reviews. It makes it worth writing to hear what you all think. Thanks again.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

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Mick's answers his ringing phone. "Hello?"

"Mr. St. John, this is Danny. Robert said I was supposed to call you."

"Danny, this is very important. Remember when you were driving Denton to the Sanguine the other day? It took you an awful long time to get back here even if you drove straight there and back. Did you stop anywhere?"

"No…. Mr. St. John, I don't want to get in trouble. I don't want Mr. Konstan to be mad at me. I was supposed to take Mr. Denton straight to the hotel. I'm sorry you had to throw him through the window."

Mick laughed. "I'm not. Danny you won't get into trouble if you answer truthfully now. It's really important. Did you stop anywhere?"

"Well, at first he told me to just drive and drive and drive. He said he wanted to think. I know now he was just killing time until he wanted to come back here. Then when he told me to go back to the estate to get the bag he forgot. He had me doing so much I wasn't supposed to at that point, I just did it. I just wanted him gone."

"But no stops anywhere right?"

"No, no stops. Just driving all around."

Thanks and don't worry about getting in trouble."

Mick had hoped that Denton had left some clue during his ride with Danny as to what was going on. No luck. Mick flips out his phone to call Josef, but it starts ringing. He sees it's Ryder. Hopefully with some help. "Ryder?"

"Hey good idea on the rental with a LoJack. Got his rental, at least. It's parked at the Biltmore downtown. I called and asked for him, but he's not registered. So all I know is his car is there."

Mick thinks about the Biltmore, really nice place. Mick knows that sometimes Josef has special meetings there that need to be on neutral ground. He also stays there a lot during those times.

"Thanks Ryder. You have no idea how welcome that part of the puzzle is." Mick hangs up and calls Josef. "Hey, I may have a lead. Do you have any one on staff at the Biltmore?"

"Of course. With all the business I do in the place, I have to have someone I can call if things don't work out the way the other party thinks they should."

Mick swears he can almost see Josef smiling through the phone. "The head of Security and the head of housekeeping are both mine. Security isn't a vamp but he's living with one of us and he's been more than willing to help out. Do you think that's where she's at?"

"Yes. Ryder tracked Denton's rental, it's parked at the Biltmore. It's sure worth a shot."

Josef smiles thinly, "Mick, where are you?"

"I'm on the other side of town. I'm on my way. If she's there I'll do it right this time. I'll take her head. Josef can you call the security guy and fax him her picture and ask him if he can try and locate her room and call me with the information?"

"Of course. Mick, some other things you should know. Robert left a little while ago with some of the other household staff. They are going to the chalet in Iceland."

Mick is silent for a minute. "You think it's that serious; that it's going to come to that?"

Josef sighs. "I hope not, but I don't want to take any chances. Robert will start implementing some of preliminary procedures that were set up just in case."

Mick wants to close his eyes and try to think, but since he's driving that might not be such a good idea. "We can't take Beth with us can we?"

Josef sighs, "No, we can't. If things turn out for the best, she can come later, but it would be far too dangerous in the beginning. Although, if there is a full on witch-hunt she may be in trouble no matter where she is…I'll have to think about finding a place to hide her away from our problems, and the rest of the world. It better not come to that. She would hate hiding."

"Hopefully this is the break we need. If I can just get to her in time it will be ok. Josef, I'll call you after I check out the Biltmore."

"Mick, be careful. You know how dangerous she is." Josef hangs up.

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Josef starts making calls, doing what Beth suggested. He calls several media people that are part of the community and asks them if what Beth had said was correct and it was almost unanimous in agreement. A couple had some additional suggestions to reinforce what she had said, but overall they agreed.

He then calls Ryder and tells him to get every tech savvy vamp working on a full-out blitz, but to not let it go unless he gives the word or if Ryder doesn't hear from Josef by morning. If it isn't needed they will keep it in reserve, as a firewall if they do need it at a later date.

Josef decides he's done all he can until he hears from Mick.

He tells himself he just wants to check in on her to make sure she's sleeping ok, and she's not having more nightmares.

Josef looks down at Beth and watches her sleep. He's becoming a little disgusted with himself; she is, after all, in love with Mick and Mick's in love with her. Josef shakes his head. He's too old to be going down this road again. He knows better and as he's said over and over to Mick, it never ends well. At least for him…..

Josef will be glad when he hears from Mick and this business with Lola is over. Everyone needs to go back to their own lives.

Josef has an idea. He goes and gets a loaded automatic out of his dresser and puts it in his pocket. He decides there is one more precaution he needs to take for Beth. He gently picks her up and takes her down the hall. She mumbles something unintelligible in her sleep and nuzzles herself into his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck. He holds her a little tighter in response. He touches a spot on the wall and a panel slides open. Josef enters the panic room and lays Beth down on one of the beds. She curls up in her sleep as she starts to get cold. He quickly goes back to get her warm blankets, and covers her up. He watches her for a little longer, hoping she will settle back down to a deep sleep. When she does, he takes the gun out of his pocket. He lays the automatic down next to her with the safety on. She must have one last line of defense. Not that he thinks even the silver bullets in the gun will kill Lola, but Beth has gotten lucky before. He just needs to give her every edge he can think of.

He looks around the room. He had it installed for the household staff and the girls, so it is large. He turns on a soft light in the corner, so she won't be frightened if she wakes up. He has an electronic key to lock it from the outside. It's sound proof so if anything should happen, hopefully Beth won't wake up. She can get out easily from the inside, if she does wake up. He's just preparing for the worst, as he always tries to do. If Lola gets past Mick, Josef needs to make sure he's done all he can to keep Beth safe. He leans over, brushes a lock of hair out of her eyes and kisses her on the forehead. Then he leaves, locking the door behind him.

Josef makes one more stop for his cutlass and heads back to his study.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick pulls up to the Biltmore. His phone rings. He hopes this is Josef's security guy.

Mick answers "Mick St. John"

"Mr. St. John this is a friend of Josef's. The person you are looking for is in the penthouse. If you need anything after you've met with this person, please don't hesitate to call me."

"Thank you. You've been very helpful. You can be sure if I need any further assistance I'll be sure to call." Mick hangs up. _The penthouse, why doest that not surprise me?_

Mick decides the best course of action is to slip in a side door. He sees a couple of the night people slipping in and out for a smoke and he takes the opportunity to use the door. Once inside he walks down a couple of the back corridors and sees a white jacket worn by the room service guy and slips it on. Mick smiles the guy must be a gorilla. The jacket is big, even on him. It doesn't cover the tails of his duster, but he should pass a glance. He heads for the service elevator and takes it up to the penthouse. The doors open and Mick inhales deeply trying to see if he can sense Denton or Lola. Taking the two of them on could be really bad.

The door to the penthouse is ajar. Mick smells Denton, Lola and vampire blood. Mick wonders if he got lucky and they killed each other. He's sure that's too much to hope for. Quietly, he pushes the door open. He has his gun in his left hand and his machete in his right. It feels awkward, but he needs all the weapons he can get with these two. Mick rounds the corner into the main living area and he sees Denton lying in the middle of the floor. Quickly Mick makes sure no one else is in the suite, and goes back to Denton.

Amazingly, he's still alive. Mick crouches down next to him and his eyes flutter open. Denton smiles weakly, "Hey, look it's Josef's errand boy."

Mick smiles down at him grimly. He knows Denton is almost gone. "Hey, do any window shopping lately?"

Denton tries to laugh. "Man, you sure got some air on that one."

Mick sort of feels bad, but not a lot. "Look, don't talk. I'll see what I can do about making you more comfortable."

Denton grabs Mick's coat. "No, you have to listen to me. You have to know I tried to stop her. I really did. She's crazy. She's going to kill us all. Tell everyone I did the right thing in the end. She's headed to Josef's. She's going to kill Josef and your girl and then reveal him to the cops and media for what he is. You've got to stop her." Denton falls back to the floor and Mick senses that he's dead.

Mick starts to panic. He heads for the stairs using his cell as he goes. He tries to call Beth, but there is no answer and then he tries Josef, same thing, no answer. He calls Josef's on-site security chief and no answer there as well. Mick keeps moving as fast as he can. He takes the stairs at an alarming rate. Jumping whole flights. When he gets to the bottom he calls the security chief for the Biltmore and tells him he has a dead vamp in the penthouse.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef senses her long before he sees her. He looks at the door and in the blink of an eye there she is. They watch each other and slowly she enters the room. "Well, well, why do I have the feeling you are waiting for me? I'm guessing you knew St. John was no match for me, and I would kill him."

Josef shakes his head. "You're bluffing. If Mick were dead you would drag his lifeless carcass in here to show me yourself. You never could pass up a chance to gloat. No, whatever has happened to him, I'm guessing he's not dead."

Josef's cell phone is lying on his desk. It starts to ring. Josef looks down and smiles. "Ah, look, there he is now." Josef reaches over and switches the cell phone off.

Lola laughs softly. "Josef, you know me so well."

"I thought I did, but that was before you started killing our own for money."

Lola looks at Josef with a mock pout. "Yes, I knew you were unhappy when you sent St. John to kill me."

"Speaking of which, how did you manage to keep from going up with your lab?"

Lola laughs. "When you're as old as I am, you're invincible. Nothing can kill me."

Josef narrows his eyes and smiles thinly. _We'll see about that._ Josef watches her as they talk; she wonders the room. He stands and faces her as she comes near him.

She smiles at him. "There was a time when you could not resist me. We could be together again. We could do so much. We could have so much power."

Josef shakes his head. "I have few illusions about myself and I know compared to say, Mick, I have few if any morals. But even I have limits, places I won't go, lines I won't cross."

"You've become weak from being around St. John and his human."

Lola sees a very small glint in Josef's eye when she mentions Beth. Josef tries to mask it with a smirk on his face but it was too late. She knows him, as well as he knows her. Lola laughs. "She is here somewhere, isn't she? In fact, I can smell her on you. Josef, what have you done with Mick's human or is she one of those lines you won't cross?" She laughs at him. "I thought she was hidden away somewhere that I couldn't find her but she's here with you. Oh, this is wonderful. Once you're dead I will find her, and wait for St. John then I will kill them both together. Oh, better yet, I must find her so she can watch me kill you."

Lola starts to wonder towards the door "Oh, Beth" She calls. Lola turns back to Josef with a smile, "Her name is Beth isn't it?" Josef watches her. Lola turns back towards the door, but before she can get there she is met by a fully vamped out Josef leaning against the doorframe. He smiles a wicked smile through his fangs. "I think we should let Beth rest, while you and I dance this dance."

Lola backs up a step, she smiles a deadly smile at Josef and matches him fang and nail. The two of them face one another and she reaches up as to caress his face, and for a moment it's like it was long ago. He's lost for just an instant and she lashes her long nails across his left shoulder, cutting into the tendon and muscle. Josef roars at her in pain and grabs at his shoulder. He looks at the slashes, and they aren't healing. He looks across at Lola as she backs away from him.

She smiles at him. "I didn't mention my new little drug did I? In the course of the research for Black Crystal, we found a compound that when ingested by a vampire allows their body to leach silver into the nails and hair but doesn't seem to harm the vampire. I haven't gotten to try it in practical terms until now. How does it feel? Burn a little? Feel dizzy at all?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth rolls over in her sleep and something hard slides under her shoulder. She feels for it and jumps when she feels the cold steel of the gun barrel. She sits up on the bed looking around her. She sees the soft light in the corner. With the blankets wrapped around her and the gun in her hand, she shuffles over and turns up the light.

The room is large. It has no windows and the walls look to be some kind of steel or concrete or something. She realizes she must be in a panic room. Josef must have moved her in the night. _What is he so afraid of that he moves her and leaves her a gun?_ Cautiously, she explores her surroundings and sees that she is alone. She finds the door and realizes there is a touch switch to the side to open it. Beth drops the blankets. She takes a deep breath and touches the switch and the door opens silently.

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Mick is driving as fast as he can, but in LA that can be hit or miss even at night. He takes every shortcut he can think of to get to Josef's as fast as he can. He keeps calling both Josef and Beth and gets no answer. He's so afraid for them both. He knows that Josef is old and has lots of power, Mick has been on the receiving end of that strength, but Lola is psychotic and five hundred years old. If she gets past Josef, Beth…he doesn't even want to think of what Lola can do to Beth.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lola and Josef continue to circle each other. Josef can feel his body very slowly, to slowly starting to heal some of the deeper wounds. Lola smiles like a cat with a mouse in her sights. She's very confident that she can kill him without much problem. Josef allows her to slowly back him up next to his desk. With his right hand he swiftly grabs for his cutlass. He brings it up and back down, slashing Lola across her side as she tries to side step him. As she jumps away from him she changes direction and spins. She manages to get a scrape of his side with those claws again.

Lola lets out a roar and Josef smiles grimly as he clutches his left side. "You think I've forgotten how to use this? Not a chance."

Lola smiles at him. "The difference, Josef, is that I will heal; you will not."

Josef takes a deep breath smiles and calms himself. "We shall see." _Not if I can get your head._

The fight continues in earnest, each trying to get in the killing blow. His strength is starting to falter. He must end this quickly. Josef knows he has to stay out of reach of those claws. It will only take one more slash and he will be done for.

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Beth hears the roar from the top of the stairs. She's heard that sound before. It's a vampire in pain, but which vampire? If Josef put her in the panic room it can be for only reason, he was afraid Lola would get into the house. If that's happened then she must have killed Mick, her Mick. Beth clenches her hand around the automatic and takes the safety off. She will avenge Mick, just as he would do for her.

Slowly she descends the stairway to Josef's study. She hears them as she walks down the hallway. When she gets to the door she sees Lola and Josef. Josef looks over Lola's shoulder and sees Beth. Beth raises the gun, carefully aims and starts to empty the gun into Lola.

Josef watches almost in slow motion as the first bullet enters Lola at the upper shoulder. It causes her to give a very small stagger. Josef takes this opportunity to bring up the cutlass and bring it across in one swift motion as the next three bullets hit Lola across the back. He puts every ounce of strength he has left into the arc the blade is making toward Lola's neck. Beth keeps squeezing the trigger. Josef's blade hits home and comes across her neck one swift cut, removing dear Lola from her head. As she falls, Josef feels a tug as Beth's last two bullets hit him in the right shoulder. He hears the gun in Beth's hand make the hollow clicking of an empty gun, and then it hits the floor with a thud. He smiles at her and steps over Lola's body. He takes a few more hesitant steps towards Beth. He notices her eyes are a beautiful shade of blue as he falls to his knees. "I love a woman who can shoot."

Beth runs to him and sinks to her knees next to him. "Oh, God, oh, God…Josef. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He smiles at her weakly. _At least she and Mick are alive_. He reaches to her and brushes the tears from her cheek. "Please don't cry. God, I love you." He falls the rest of the way to the floor.

Beth looks down at him and knows instinctively what must be done. Once again she prepares to open a vein for a friend. She puts her arm in front of his face and he slowly shakes his head and he closes his eyes. She can sense that he is preparing to die.

_God, and he teased Mick for snacking on her. This feeling of being too afraid to save yourself at the cost of someone else, this is what Mick felt when he was in the desert. This is what he was afraid of, that he couldn't stop himself. Well, he's not Mick, he may not stop, he doesn't love her like Mick does_….

He hears another voice,_keep telling yourself that…_..The silver is making him delusional_…yea, right…that's why you haven't sunk your fangs into this delectable little blond already. _

Beth sees that he's going to be even more stubborn than Mick was. She rolls Josef over on his side. He lets out a moan from the pain, but it can't be helped. Beth takes her t-shirt off and lies down so she is facing him; she snuggles up as close as she can to him. Beth smiles up at him through the tears; she lowers her head and moves her hair away from her neck. He watches her and closes his eyes. "Beth…no." He smells the blood just under the surface of her skin. He hears the pounding of her heart in his ears. He opens his eyes and looks at her beautiful neck and shoulder, _all that milky skin_. He sees the pulse rising and falling in her neck. She's so close to him, and he feels her warm breath on his chest as she offers up her neck to him. "God, no."

Very soothingly, very softly she tells him. "Yes, Josef. It will be ok. You can stop when you have to. You won't hurt me. I trust you. I won't lose you both."

Josef can't help himself, he leans in and sinks his fangs into her neck. He can taste the salt of her tears as it mixes with the sweetness of her blood. He moans at the taste of her. Josef wonders how come he hasn't tasted anything quite like the sweetness of this before.

She lies perfectly still. She feels the pumping of her blood into his mouth. She resists any feelings of panic. She just relaxes. She raises her hand and slowly runs her fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair. Slowly she caresses his cheek, touching him here and there. Letting him feel that she is with him. She takes his hand with her free hand and presses it between her breasts so he can feel her heartbeat with the palm of his hand. Soon she starts to feel faint from the loss. She knows he needs to stop very soon. Her hands drops away from him, and he senses the loss of her touch. He senses her heartbeat, stops drinking, and pulls his fangs out. He hopes he didn't wait too long. He thinks it will probably kill him if she dies. He starts to lick the wounds to close them up so the bleeding will stop.

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**Love to read any and all comments... **


	8. Chapter 8

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

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Mick clears the gate and the car comes to a sliding stop in front of the house. As soon as he enters the house he smells the blood emanating from Josef's study. He flies through the door and the first thing he sees are Josef and Beth laying face to face. Josef is slowly licking the wounds on Beth's neck to seal them and stop the blood flow. Mick listens for her heartbeat and hears it still pumping blood through her body. It's not as strong as he would like, but considering she just donated, it's not bad. Mick takes a whiff of the air and sees what she did; what she did to save Josef. 

Josef rolls over on his back, still too weak to move much. He took enough from her to keep himself from dying, but he didn't dare take much more. He sees Mick's face looming in the distance. Mick picks Beth up, gently lays her on the couch and puts a blanket over her. He grabs for his phone and calls Dr. Stanton. He explains the emergency and growls into the phone for him to get to Josef's fast. 

Mick makes one more call to The Cleaner, "This is Mick, I'm at Josef's and I've got at least one body, Lola, you'll be glad to hear, but I suspect there are a few more."

The Cleaner snorts. "We're on our way."

Mick goes over to Josef's small fridge in the corner and pulls out a bottle. He guesses Beth must have panicked and not forgotten it was even in here. Her only real experience with hurt vampires is letting them feed from her. He pours Josef a glass. He sits Josef up and pours some of the liquid down his throat. Josef gratefully gulps it down. He sees that Josef needs a second glass, and gives him that one also. Josef manages to croak out to Mick. "Silver bullets in my shoulder." Mick nods. 

He checks on Beth, and then goes out to the car to get a pair of needle nose pliers. He finds the entry holes in Josef's shoulder, "This is going to hurt." Josef closes his eyes and nods for Mick to continue and Mick manages to get the bullets out. Mick watches as Josef's eyes start to clear and he finally starts to heal.

Mick goes over to check on Beth again. He hears the doctor pull up outside. Stanton has a cooler with several packets of O negative. He checks on Beth and sets up a drip of O negative into her arm. He turns to Mick and Josef. "After I saw her the last time, I thought I would stock up on some O negative. I figured if she was going to hang out with you two, she might need it. I'm glad I did. I take it she donated to keep one of you alive." Josef is still sitting on the floor drinking from the bottle of blood on his own now. He barely nods. "Me."

Stanton sees Lola's legs sticking out from behind his desk. I take it I don't have to worry about whoever is back there."

Josef snorts. "I hope to God not."

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Josef sits in his office staring out at the night. He thinks about how close he came to the end of it. Crazy human. He hates to think of what would have happened if Beth hadn't been there to force him to take her blood. He remembers what he thought were the last minutes of his life and telling Beth he loves her. Hopefully she's chalked it up to silver poisoning. It wouldn't do any of them any good for her to know the truth. With all the craziness that was happening in the moment, it probably didn't even register. She was too busy worrying that she'd killed him.

Then there was Lola, who she used to be and how much he cared for her before she went over the edge into madness. When it was all said and done, she had killed two humans, almost three, and fifteen vampires. All of his security people were dead, even young Danny who was afraid to drive Denton to the hotel. What a waste. It makes him sick to think of it.

It's only been a day since Beth saved his life, but of course he's good as new. He calls Mick "How's she doing?"

"You know, Beth wants to see you." Mick says. "You need to come over and see for yourself."

Josef hesitates. "Maybe later."

Mick smiles. "You aren't avoiding her are you?" 

Josef growls at him and hangs up the phone.

On his way home that morning, Josef decides he can't wait any longer. He needs to see Beth, and make sure for himself that she is fine. Hopefully she will be asleep when he gets there since it's still early morning. 

Josef calls Mick from the car and Mick tells him "I'm still up. Come on over." Mick goes upstairs and gently wakes Beth. "Hey, you asked me to call you if Josef was coming over."

Beth sits up and rubs the sleep from her eyes. "Thanks. I'd like to talk to him for a little bit."

Mick nods and smiles at her. "I'll send him up when he gets here. I think maybe Josef needs to make sure you're really fine after what happened. You have a tendency to make vampires concerned about you when you save our lives. It freaks us out a little."

Beth smiles and watches Mick go back downstairs. She goes back over in her mind the last few minutes in Josef's study and the fear that she had killed him. She knows rationally that Lola had done a great deal of damage to Josef with her silver nails, but it still felt like Beth was the one that had ultimately almost killed him when she shot him. He must have had a terrible amount of poison in his system. She wonders if he was delusional from all that silver in his system and if that was why he said he loved her. She decides that must be it, and not to mention it. He probably doesn't even remember saying it. 

Josef clicks the door with his electronic key and it opens. Mick is on the other side. Josef tosses him the key. "I think it's time you kept this." 

Mick looks startled. "No way. You getting in and helping Beth is too important for you to not have a key. What would have happened if you couldn't get in and help her when this all started? No, Please keep it for emergencies if nothing else." 

Josef nods and puts it back in his pocket. "How is she doing?"

Mick smiles. "You're supposed to go see her, no matter when you showed up. I woke her when you called." Mick smiles at him "Go on."

Josef walks up the stairs to Mick's spare bedroom. He taps on the closed door and hears Beth say, "Come in, Josef."

He opens the door and sees her sitting up in bed, her eyes a little puffy from not being awake very long. It occurs to him again that she's so very beautiful. "How are you?"

She smiles at him. "I'm fine. Josef, we got her. The miserable witch is dead. You and me, we got her."

He smiles at her. "We did, at that, and everybody's safe because you're one hell of a shot."

She snorts at him. "Yea, except for the two that Mick had to dig out of your shoulder."

He waves his hand dismissively. "Flesh wound. No big deal. I'm more thankful for that little blond blood bank that kept me alive, until Mick could pour some blood down my throat."

She laughs. "Yea, that's me, blood bank to my wounded vamps."

He sits on the side of the bed and takes her hands in his. "Beth…. thank you…. for everything. Without your help…." He's looking down at her hands.

"Hey now…. none of that…you're not going all softy on me, are you? You stop that or I'm going to cry."

He looks at her and gently brushes a tear from her cheek "Please don't cry." and suddenly they are both remembering the last time he said those words and all that followed. For just a second time stands still. Josef clears his throat and the spell is broken. 

He looks at her a little sadly, she thinks, and kisser her hand. "No, no more softy. I'm just glad your ok and I didn't….."

"You didn't, and I knew you wouldn't. I trust you." Softly she looks at him. "You and Mick, mean too much to me to lose either of you."

Josef shakes his head trying to clear her out of it. "I'm going on a trip. I'll be gone for awhile. You and Mick be happy. I'll see you when I get back". He leans towards her and softly kisses her on the cheek. Be safe and happy." He stands up smiles down at her and leaves.

Josef goes downstairs to the kitchen where Mick is. He braces his hands on the kitchen table and puts his head down shaking it back and forth slowly. "Man you've got to watch out for her. She's too trusting…I might have…I could have…"

Mick watches his friend having the same struggle with what she did for him. "Pretty tough to take when she does something like that. I know." 

Josef gives his head a good shake. He looks up at Mick. "I'm leaving town for awhile. I think I need a change of scenery. I told Robert to stop the preparations; that all was well but to stay put, as I would bring the girls along and join him and the staff there. He puts out his hand to Mick. "You take care of yourself and Beth. I'll call you when I get back."

Mick watches Josef leave and suddenly he's very glad he met Beth first…

The End…….or is it…….

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**I want to thank everyone for their reviews. You may not realize it but sometimes like in this story I added things based on comments made. It helps keep me on my toes so I don't miss important points. In the end I hope everyone liked at least some of it. **


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